Are Mechanical Music Instruments "Robots"?
By Jurgen Goering
It seems that mechanical musical instruments do not meet all the
technical criteria to qualify as robots. But I think that most people
might allow enough 'leeway' in the definition to let certain cases seem
valid. After all, people _want_ to be amazed and delighted.
My case in point: when I tell people about a push-up player and describe
it as a machine designed to mechanically play pianos, I get a moderately
interested response. When I tell them about a 100-year-old digital robot
which plays the piano keys with mechanical fingers, it really sparks
people's imaginations and their eyes begin to light up.
I rest my case.
Jurgen Goering
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(Message sent Tue 9 Sep 2003, 06:00:06 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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