this is ‘shimon’, a four-armed robot marimba player built by the georgia institute of technology that listens to music, improvises, and can play alongside human musicians. this video was filmed at moogfest, a festival for music, art, and technology in north carolina by quartz. ‘shimon’ was created by gil weinberg and his team at georgia’s tech center for music technology years ago, and has diligently maintained its star power ever since.


all images © mike murphy / quartz

 

 

at a performance during last year’s moogfest, gil weinberg, the lead researcher at georgia tech’s center for music technology, gave a performance with the robot his lab has been working on for the past thirteen years. its robot ‘shimon’, which utilizes machine-learning-programs on music theory with a broad range of musical styles, from classical music to techno, adds an otherwise impossible element to musical performances, playing complex chord structures that human’s simply can’t recreate.

 

 

as reported by quartz the technology can also be used as robotic prosthetics for people–during the concert, weinberg introduced jason barnes, a drummer who lost the lower part of his right arm a few years ago. weinberg created a robot arm with two drumsticks that barnes could control with just his bicep muscles and drum at up to 20 beats per second. he could play the drums faster and with greater accuracy than perhaps any other drummer on earth as illustrated in the video below, sorry ginger baker.

 

video © mike murphy / quartz

martin hislop I designboom
jun 20, 2017

    have something to add? share your thoughts in our comments section below.

    comments policy
    LOG IN
    designboom's comment policy guidelines
    generally speaking, if we publish something, it's because we're genuinely interested in the subject. we hope you'll share this interest and if you know even more about it, please share! our goal in the discussion threads is to have good conversation and we prefer constructive opinions. we and our readers have fun with entertaining ones. designboom welcomes alerts about typos, incorrect names, and the like.
    the correction is at the discretion of the post editor and may not happen immediately.

    what if you disagree with what we or another commenter has to say?
    let's hear it! but please understand that offensive, inappropriate, or just plain annoying comments may be deleted or shortened.

    - please do not make racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic or otherwise offensive comments.
    - please don't personally insult the writers or your fellow commenters.
    - please avoid using offensive words, replacing a few letters with asterisks is not a valid workaround.
    - please don't include your website or e-mail address in your comments for the purpose of self-promotion.
    - please respect jury verdicts and do not discuss offensively on the competition results
    (there is only one fist prize, and designboom usually asks renown professionals to help us to promote talent.
    in addition to the awarded designs, we do feel that almost all deserve our attention, that is why we publish
    the best 100-200 entries too.)

    a link is allowed in comments as long as they add value in the form of information, images, humor, etc. (links to the front page of your personal blog or website are not okay). unwelcome links (to commercial products or services of others, offensive material etc. ) will be redacted. and, ... yes, spam gets banned. no, we do not post fake comments.

    forgot password

     (111 articles)

     (325 articles)

    PRODUCT LIBRARY

    a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.

    technology news

    join us - an evening in conversation with bang & olufsen and michael anastassiades join us - an evening in conversation with bang & olufsen and michael anastassiades
    sep 17, 2018

    join us - an evening in conversation with bang & olufsen and michael anastassiades

    #technology

    set to be as magical as the beosound edge speaker itself, designboom will co-host an evening in conversation with bang & olufsen and michael anastassiades on »

    set to be as magical as the beosound edge speaker itself, designboom will co-host an evening in conversation with bang & olufsen and michael anastassiades on wednesday september 19 in london.

    #technology
    designer dreams up tesla motorbike despite elon musk's refusal to create one designer dreams up tesla motorbike despite elon musk's refusal to create one
    sep 14, 2018

    designer dreams up tesla motorbike despite elon musk's refusal to create one

    #technology

    london-based designer jans slapin has come up with a glossy electric two-wheeler dubbed the 'tesla model m', seemingly inspired by the automotive company's red »

    london-based designer jans slapin has come up with a glossy electric two-wheeler dubbed the 'tesla model m', seemingly inspired by the automotive company's red roadster.

    #technology
    autonomous mercedes-benz 'vision URBANETIC' has switchable bodies for different uses autonomous mercedes-benz 'vision URBANETIC' has switchable bodies for different uses
    sep 10, 2018

    autonomous mercedes-benz 'vision URBANETIC' has switchable bodies for different uses

    #technology

    the concept can be fitted with a cargo module, or a people-mover module, thus reducing traffic, relieving inner-city infrastructure and contributing to an »

    the concept can be fitted with a cargo module, or a people-mover module, thus reducing traffic, relieving inner-city infrastructure and contributing to an improved quality of urban life.

    #technology

    all technology news