A three-armed robot designed to mimic a human orchestra conductor has made its debut in Dresden, Germany, directing music composed specifically to highlight the device's unique capabilities.
The robot, featuring three separate arm-like structures holding batons reminiscent of 'Star Wars' light sabers, led musicians from the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra in two performances over the weekend. The robot was trained to recognize beat timing and indicate dynamics, with each arm capable of moving independently.
This unique ability was showcased in the performance of 'Semiconductor's Masterpiece', a composition by Andreas Gundlach, commissioned by the Dresdner Sinfoniker. The robot used its three arms to guide the three sections of the orchestra separately, a feat not possible with a single human conductor.
Speaking at Sunday's performance, Gundlach revealed that the idea for the robot was inspired by scientists at Dresden's Technical University, who develop 'cobots'—collaborative robots intended to work alongside humans rather than replace them. The development and training of the conductor robot took two years in collaboration with the Technical University.
Gundlach noted that the process of teaching the robot conducting movements made him appreciate 'in a totally new way what a wonderful creation a human being is'. He emphasized the need for patient work to teach the machine 'aesthetic arm movements that the orchestra can easily follow'.
Two of the robot's arms also conducted the musicians through the premiere of '#kreuzknoten' by Wieland Reissmann, a piece involving instruments played at different tempos simultaneously.
