[Hankyoreh] Four-armed drum robot plays at the speed of light... Will it overtake emotion as well as speed?

☞Hankyoreh Newsletter H:730 Subscribe.Try searching for '한겨레 h730' in the search bar.

The domestic conducting robot, 'Ever6,' which conducted an orchestra at the National Theater recently, attracted attention, even drawing coverage from foreign media. Its hand movements were quite delicate, and its rhythm and tempo were accurate. However, the limitations of a robot conductor who cannot listen or empathize were clear. On the other hand, it also highlighted the absence of a 'human conductor.' But what about a robot that plays instruments? Humans only have ten fingers, but wouldn't a robot with hundreds of fingers surpass human performers? In fact, performance robots that skillfully handle various instruments are active in many places.
Instrumental performance robots are closer to our daily lives than we think. If you go to Incheon Airport, you can enjoy the performance of 'Robot Drummer Ant and Friends.' It is an analog music where the robot plays by hitting the drums with sticks, not digital electronic music. The domestic company that developed this robot, 'Seoul A&T,' focuses on 'familiar robots' rather than high-performance robots. They also operate a 'robot ensemble' that performs with drums, xylophones, and recorders. It is a 'performance type performance robot' that delights the eyes and ears of people at fairs, exhibitions, and event venues.
The AI robot performance system 'RIMA,' developed by the venture company 'Emotionwave,' established in 2013, possesses advanced capabilities. It loads an artificial intelligence trained on over 100,000 pieces of data from real instruments such as piano, drums, and marimba to create natural and rich sounds. Since 2017, it has performed Korean traditional music, jazz, and classical concerts at various festivals under the name 'Mechatronics Concert.'

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny previously introduced 'Orchestrion' in 2009, which collaborated with automatic playing machines. It is a system that plays automatically according to pre-inputted mechanical devices. It was a pioneering attempt anticipating the arrival of the 'era of robot performers,' but it is on a different level from modern performance robots equipped with advanced artificial intelligence.

The field where performance robots demonstrate outstanding capabilities is percussion. The marimba robot 'Shimon,' which has four arms, is representative of this. Developed by the Music Technology Center at Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, this robot can flawlessly perform incredibly fast pieces that even a brilliant performer with only two arms could not play. Having overcome the physical limitations of the human body, it is truly a 'superhuman robot.' It's not just about fast 'virtuosity.' The research institute explains that 'Shimon' can interact with humans and perform improvisations, although in a rudimentary way. This is because it has learned various music theories and diverse musical genres and styles using machine learning programs.' Dr. Gil Weinberg, a principal researcher at the Music Technology Center, says, "It can play in different styles, like jazz players Thelonious Monk or Ornette Coleman." Shimon has performed its skills while touring across the United States.

Performance robots are also quite capable of playing keyboard instruments. Last December, photos and videos of an android robot playing the piano in a restaurant in Hangzhou, China, spread across the internet. This robot, named 'Xiaole,' is equipped with a precise visual recognition system that allows it to press keys accurately. Developed by an artificial intelligence research institute in China, this piano-playing robot has numerous joints on its arms, and it can also move its waist, head, and feet. In 2016, the Italian robot pianist 'Theo Tronico' performed at the Seongnam Art Center. This robot, with 53 fingers, also collaborated on Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 K488, among other pieces. It has a vast repertoire, including works by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and possesses about 100 techniques necessary for piano performance, such as dynamics and speed.

Robots can also play string instruments like the violin and cello, as well as wind instruments like the trumpet. 'KUKA,' a robotics company headquartered in Augsburg, Germany, and Toyota, an automobile company from Japan, are representative companies that produce instrument-playing robots. Robotics engineer Dr. Seth Goldstein developed the violin robot 'Ro-Bow' in 2015. It consists of robotic fingers that pluck the strings according to the scale and a mechanism for bowing. Active research is also being conducted domestically, with several papers discussing the fingering techniques for robotic violins.

Although not robots, the development of automatic pianos is astonishing. It is incomparable to the early automatic playing pianos popular in the late 19th century. The Steinway 'Spirio r' automatic piano allows you to enjoy a vivid live performance as if a world-class musician were playing right before your eyes. If Lim Yoon-chan were to play on this piano at Carnegie Hall in New York, USA, and open the room via an app, it would mean that people in Korea could watch the piano touch played by Lim Yoon-chan in real time from home. Performances by pianists Lang Lang and Yuja Wang recorded on the Spirio r piano can already be enjoyed in this way. The performances of charismatic pianists like Glenn Gould and Vladimir Horowitz are also reproduced and played back in their respective styles. Of course, it is an imagination that requires placing a 'Spirio r' piano, which costs hundreds of millions of won, in one's home.

Will performance robots, which are developing rapidly with the addition of artificial intelligence, eventually take away the jobs of human performers? State-of-the-art automatic pianos are already threatening the jobs of performers who have worked in lobbies of hotels, cafes, and hospitals. 'Performance playing robots' that bring laughter to the audience are also very popular. An official from Emotionwave, which developed the 'Rima automatic piano,' said, "Recently, we purchased and placed a Rima automatic piano in a restaurant at Lotte World," adding that "large cafes and restaurants are major clients." Performance robots are also being utilized for educational purposes or for medical uses to aid rehabilitation for injured performers.

To humans who are gradually being replaced by machines, the art domain has been considered the 'last bastion' and the 'final pride.' The general assessment is that while there are robots that can play faster than humans, there are no robots that can evoke greater emotion. However, in the near future, could a 'cyborg robot musician' emerge that plays at the speed of light and is equipped with an 'emotion code'? Because artificial intelligence is developing at the speed of light.
Reporter Im Seok-kyusky@hani.co.kr, Photo YouTube Collection