Video: Toyota's robo-quartet makes Kerouac cry

After watching Honda's Asimo conduct the Detroit Symphony, Toyota's distressed team of robots hopped a box car with a jug of wine and wound up leaning in and kicking out a clear harmonic cry to some corporate goons in Japan. The band consists of a couple repurposed DJ Robots and new Partner Robots. While laudable, there's not enough ecstasy for us, not enough life, joy, kicks, darkness, music... not enough night. Video after the break, Jack.

[Shadowise @ May 16th 2008 4:02AM]

They can play those instruments better than me, so it's something... when they start playing Bass Guitar, let me know.

[vdogg89 @ May 16th 2008 6:48PM]

eh its not bass but close enough

http://www.engadget.com/2005/07/08/the-crazy-j-guitar-playing-robot/

[Teejay @ May 16th 2008 4:23AM]

Ooh! And they're playing LUPIN III'rd theme song!

[Kevin Adder Snake @ May 17th 2008 10:55AM]

Yeah, how cool is that. I was kinda expecting them to play the Cantina song from Star Wars Episode 4. That would be cool

[nxtiak @ May 16th 2008 4:25AM]

They should have them play Rockband

[David @ May 16th 2008 4:30AM]

So they have buzzing lips and airflow?? cool

[LarryLarryLarry @ May 16th 2008 5:32PM]

Exactly. They're not even moving their fingers to key the different notes. This is robot lip-sync, not robot performance.


The drummer is the only one who might even possibly be playing music, the rest are robto air-guitarists with worse instruments.

There's something really wrong about watching robots with no mouths play wind instruments.

[Cassini @ May 16th 2008 6:05PM]

Actually, in the video, they are moving their fingers to key the different notes.

[Bad Beaver @ May 16th 2008 4:42AM]

If Jack wasn't dead, he'd cry. In fact, looking around the world, he'd be too busy crying about other stuff than to even notice this travesty. Sometimes, you just cannot take it all in.

[Bad Beaver @ May 16th 2008 4:47AM]

On the other hand, I think Burroughs would like this. Those bots would have run on certain human liquids and feature some interesting orifices, bristling with razorblades and needles, but he'd like them.

[Nick @ May 16th 2008 5:23AM]

Neat... However I can't imagine these ever replacing real performers or contributing anything useful to robotics except for replacing those horribly creepy animatronic animals at Chuck E. Cheese. At least it gives us a hint at the future of design of electronics design, in the future everything electronic will be white and will glow blue. Cause, ya know, it looks cool.

[Eh @ May 16th 2008 5:42AM]

that was one short ass video, is that Lupin III?

[stevedeleo @ May 16th 2008 12:19PM]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oQSe4Z1cH4E

[cysko @ May 16th 2008 5:43AM]

i saw this at chuck e cheese's before it was great!

[Geggs @ May 16th 2008 6:16AM]

This isn't that exciting - these Toyota robots were playing musical instruments YEARS AGO on public display at the World Expo in Nagoya in 2005.... there they made up for the lack of robot emotion and action by an over zealous human announcer.

[Richard Lai @ May 16th 2008 8:08AM]

Damn.... When I first saw the photo I thought they were holding weapons.

[Ryback @ May 16th 2008 8:47AM]

I for one welcome our new robot overlords!

[couchpundit @ May 16th 2008 11:13AM]

That's pretty cool. If a composer could control an ensemble of these, that would be really cool.

[SurKaz @ May 16th 2008 11:40AM]

That is cool,

Even if they were all preprogrammed to perform excactly in sync, still good. They actually played the music pretty well..

And the music was quite catchy.. Lupin IIIrd you say?. That cartoon show?.. It had this catchy music?..
Gotta watch it now..

[Magallanes @ May 16th 2008 11:56AM]

Welcome to the bottom deep of the uncanny valley.

[Dave @ May 16th 2008 11:59AM]

Those things seriously give me the jibblies.

[kyle allen @ May 16th 2008 2:37PM]

"come on in here!!"

[DilRod @ May 16th 2008 6:00PM]

Who said they were not moving their fingers? Look closer dude.

[jackkerouac127 @ May 17th 2008 8:42PM]

I saw the robot trumpet player up close (ten feet) last year at the toyota Grand Prix here in town. As a music teacher, I was curious to see what was going on up close. What I can tell you is that there is no buzzing whatsoever. The mouthpiece is is not a real mouthpiece. As the robot dude brought the trumpet to his "mouth," a small tube popped out of the mouthpiece and inserted into the hole in his face. What that means, I have no idea except that it wasn't the real thing. The "performance" was actually kinda boring after the first minute. About as exciting as watching my coffee pot brew coffee.