@hgryphon robots dont have goals... its just a machine programmed to move its arms in a certain speed and order, so that when placed in front of a piano, the arms hit the keys that play a song!
"Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you are just a machine. An imitation of life. Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?" "Can you?"
For real, sci-fi isn't sci-fi anymore. The real thing is that sci-fi is now reality and will be just like in the movies by 2020~2050. Will be awesome, and we will all enjoy it. Evolution and revolution, an inevitable process.
@blazednlovinit Right then! So if you put an orchestra CD into your CD player, it could be said that the CD player is playing all of those instruments?
@blazednlovinit "Playing" the piano, or any instrument, or any sport for that matter, suggests more than the mechanical aspect. If I designed a robot that can kick a soccer ball into a goal, is that robot playing soccer? Is it aware what soccer even is? Or is it only aware of it's programming which means it must kick?
@hgryphon we are talking about a robot playing the piano. playing a piano is not that specific a definition "hitting a pianos keys in specific orders in order to entertain people and have fun or to help oneself think.." to me its just "hitting the keys on a piano in specific order to create a melody" i mean you get them self playing pianos, in your world they are self playing pianos that cant play themselves? :S
so, we have a video of an off the shelf robot, doing a task a 15 year old could program it to do. What they don't show in the video is that the robot senses if the key pressed plays the correct pitch and if it doesn't it recalibrates by testing the neighbouring keys. It can also play in harmony with other humanoid robots running the same program. I guess its kind of cool :/
Okay, but I didn't subscribe to this channel to see what any good robotic programmer can do over a weekend. I subscribed to see the advances made in science.
@ulthea It is quite a lot different actually, notice that the robot is moving his arms and accurately hitting keys in time. Try making something similar and posting it on youtube.
Ok, I *KNOW* this isn't the best they can do - it's almost 2011! There are robots that can jog, climb stairs, balance on one leg, get up when they fall, etc. Get this toy outta there, sit down and program a robot with 10 fingers, and let him go to town. ;)
@hgryphon its still playing a piano tho... as it is in front of one. if it wasnt in front of one and doing the same as it is now, it wouldnt be playing a piano. it is only doing the same as humans do to play piano, recall motor reflexes from the past (just without the sensory input is all)
@blazednlovinit When a person plays a piano, what is their goal? Might I suggest that it is to have fun, or perhaps entertain others, or if you have ever known this kind of person, to help themselves think. How about this robot? What is this robot's goal? Move arm A over, move arm A down, move arm B over, move arm B down. The robot doesn't care about the output or the result, as long as it runs through the program. It would go through the same routine if you put a Harry Potter novel there.
I'm sorry, but this is a disingenuous title. This robot is not "playing the piano." If there wasn't a piano in front of this robot, would it still run through the same motions? The piano is secondary to running the program.
@ExhumedANDConsumed Congratulations on taking offense to my simple comment. I am well aware of the differences having owned a pianola in my young life thank you, but my point was the similarities in pre-programmed mechanics of some kind creating a delightful melody. But thank you for pointing out the obvious /end sarcasm.
@hgryphon no it is kicking a football into a goal, much like this one is playing the piano because it is playing a piano... O_o nothing in the definition of either football or playing instruments i have ever seen mentions that the player needs to consciously know what he/she/it is doing its only programming that makes humans kick too btw
@ivorytickler8888 If I may point out a controversial fact, a baby isn't a fully developed organism the way other animals' babies generally are. I know, I'm the bad guy, hating on babies, right? But if you think about it, we're not. It's not nice, but you can generally leave a newborn deer away from it's mom and it'll be ok, for instance. That said, there may be a reason a baby doesn't understand why it plays. ;)
@TheSanityInspector I understand it takes a certain vision to forsee possible uses. Or maybe one cannot forsee it at all. Maybe something useful will be developed based on this. However i dobut this particular software can be implemented in something else, seeing how this does not seem to be an evolutionary algorithm. It is simply programmed for the purpose of playing some pre-defined keys. And this kind of solution can be generated wihout much difficulty.
