A bug-free performance for the South Korean National Orchestra's robot maestro

A South Korean-made robot made its debut as a conductor Friday in Seoul during a sold-out concert, during which it led more than sixty musicians in front of a conquered audience. Called EveR 6, this 1.80 meter robot guided the musicians of the National Orchestra of Korea, officiating alone for part of the concert and with the assistance of a live conductor for half -hour.

Emerging from an elevator under the stage of the National Theater of Korea, EveR 6 turned to the public before making a bow, under the cheers of some 950 spectators. Throughout its performance, the robot fixed its blue eyes on the musicians, without blinking and shaking its head to the rhythm of the music. “I came here wondering if a robot could get away with it without a bug. But I found that he was in perfect harmony with the musicians. It was a whole new world for me,” said 19-year-old music student Kim Ji-min.

Concerts had already been conducted by robots elsewhere in the world, notably in Italy in 2017 with the YuMi robot, but this was a great first in South Korea where this Ever 6 was designed. Developed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, a public institution, this robot was programmed to replicate the movements of a real conductor using motion capture technology, which records human positions and rotations via sensors.

However, the robot is not able to hear or improvise in real time. Its developers are working so that the robot can eventually perform gestures that are not programmed in advance, assured Lee Dong-wook, the engineer who created it. The ability to improvise and communicate with musicians in real time would be a huge step forward, said Song Joo-ho, a music columnist who attended the concert. The robot "must be able to improvise in real time when the musicians make a mistake or when something goes wrong," he said.