Absolut Quartet: robots making music with ping pong balls and brandy glasses

Prepare to be amazed. Thank the good lorf for embedded video because any words used to convey our awe in Dan Paluska's and Jeff Lieberman's ping pong ball hurling, robotic Absolut Quartet orchestral machine would fall limp upon your liquid crystal cells, rods and cones. Should have sent... a poet. Video after the break.

[Person157 @ Feb 21st 2008 7:36AM]

Haha lorf

[Shadowise @ Feb 21st 2008 7:37AM]

Dang... beaten to the punch.

[Carbonize @ Feb 21st 2008 7:40AM]

I for one welcome our electronic overlorfs!

[Secret Squirrel @ Feb 22nd 2008 9:12AM]

Real life www.Animusic.com!

[Matthew @ Feb 21st 2008 7:39AM]

m dog would go crazy in that room

[Grizz @ Feb 21st 2008 7:49AM]

I don't know why I found your comment so funny, probibly the vision of letting a golden loose in there. It would be like doggie heaven.

[JP @ Feb 21st 2008 7:48AM]

Nice "Contact" references

[ReggieXuk @ Feb 21st 2008 7:50AM]

ah yes, making useless robots
more important that making useful ones

[AutoTom @ Feb 21st 2008 8:03AM]

the useful ones suck!

have you seen those 100 grand robotic arms that pick stuff up and put it down again?!!

[Mic2000 @ Feb 21st 2008 7:51AM]

Ricky E Glasius Ping Pong song, but then better

[Andrew @ Feb 21st 2008 7:54AM]

Haha, this reminds me of ATI's Animusic demo back in the 9700 days. I used to love that demo.

[Jeremy W @ Feb 21st 2008 8:19AM]

ATI didn't make it, they just included it as a demo. It's an actual company, and you can buy a DVD with a whole bunch of different songs on it: http://www.animusic.com/

I bought this a few years ago, I love it!

[Andrew @ Feb 21st 2008 8:52AM]

Yeah, I know, but no one would know what I was talking about if I didn't reference it to ATI. ;)

[Gtoffo @ Feb 21st 2008 9:04AM]

exactly! IT'S ANIMUSIC!! same exact machine!

[Ed @ Feb 22nd 2008 3:08AM]

Uhh, I actually LOVED that demo. I had no idea it was a DVD at all. I kept trying to find the software for a long time.

It was only much later that I learned it was produced by Animusic. I actually have both of their DVDs.

[Bill @ Feb 21st 2008 7:55AM]

No way these are ping pong balls--they would not be dense enough to play a marimba with this tone. Most likely rubber, I'm guessing. What an extraordinary machine!

[AutoTom @ Feb 21st 2008 8:04AM]

i found no rythim to this at all good but req work

[Handle IT @ Feb 21st 2008 1:27PM]

I've seen better ping pong ball tricks! ;)

[Carl M @ Feb 21st 2008 1:58PM]

They are indeed rubber balls. They just happen to be ping-pong-ball size.
Check out the links I posted below for more technical info.

[Maff @ Feb 21st 2008 8:07AM]

Am I the only one who can't see what's going on properly then?
too dark to see anything

[techieguru16 @ Feb 21st 2008 8:12AM]

lol i love it!

[shmengie @ Feb 21st 2008 9:38AM]

so, they spend a kazillion hours building this thing, but only have a camera phone around for shooting the video that introduces them to the world? really? c'mon!

[Carl M @ Feb 21st 2008 1:55PM]

This isn't their video. It's a video made by some guy who visited the exhibition.

For info about the creation, see this interview:

http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/bizarre/0207125/creating-music-with-creative-machines-an-interview-with-jeff-lieberman/

For the official website, see:

http://absolut.com/absolutmachines

[Raghu @ Feb 21st 2008 10:06AM]

You want robot music? Check out Captured by Robots, a one man and many robot band that actually tours. Part music, part performance art, here is a YouTube video of them in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zvU165DEYc

[TheDude @ Feb 21st 2008 11:16AM]

I agree. Great Show!

[Rocketboy @ Feb 21st 2008 7:06PM]

Chuck-e-cheese did it first.. and better...

[nonstatic @ Feb 21st 2008 10:09AM]

cute, but done before over a decade ago by Trimpin.

[granny down east @ Feb 21st 2008 4:15PM]

Can you say Glass Harmonica??

[zothebo123 @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:10PM]

I recommend anyone interested in this project go onto the site ABSOLUTMACHINES.COM to interact machine yourselves.

It's actually part of a two part project called ABSOLUT MACHINES that also includes the ABSOLUT CHOIR in Stockholm, both of which can be controlled by users on absolutmachines.com and is streamed live. They'll also email you the video of your session when you're done.

p.s. ABSOLUT QUARTET is being unveiled on Wednesday Feb 27, so hopefully there should be a better video available then.

[zothebo123 @ Feb 22nd 2008 2:12PM]

http://www.absolutmachines.com