A Robot Opera?
Robots can do lots of useful things these days, so why can't they
provide entertainment? Sure there's destructive entertainment like
battlebots, and there's
academic robotic competitions which can be entertaining, but the next
big thing in robotic entertainment is the
Robot Opera! "This will be a contemporary opera performed and
sung by
robots" says Paul Minotto, composer and founder of the primeTime sublime. Paul
claims that operatic robots entertaining humans is nothing new and
points to Pavarobotti which is a robot that reproduces Luciano
Pavarotti's voice. First, modification of AIBO
robot dogs was tried to
get them to sing. Now the group is using robots such as the
Wakamaru,
adding voices and working on
problems with interaction. Plans are to add realism of
character, identity and personality traits to these robots. He suggests
he may program
a soprano robot with an inflated ego: a true prima donna. But if you go
to the robot opera, don't leave in the middle of it because you do
realize it ain't over until the fat lady robot sings! Similar articles...
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