Pisa - Like in previous performances held under the fresco-covered ceiling of the beautifully elegant Teatro Verdi, in Pisa, Italy, musicians sit attentive, instruments at the ready, eyes focused on the Maestro. Soloists stand ready as well, waiting for the conductor's upward motion with the baton to begin. Yet this is no ordinary performance, and no ordinary conductor. Here, ABB's YuMi, the world's first truly collaborative dual-arm robot, is making its conducting debut.
That was the scene last night, as YuMi directed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in a program of Verdi at a charity concert for the gala of the First International Festival of Robotics. Over 800 illustrious guests from around the world enjoyed the program titled "A breath of hope: from the Stradivarius to the robot." Among the guests of this special performance was ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer under whose leadership YuMi was developed when he was responsible for the turn-around of the Robotics business.
In one of the most beautiful theaters of Italian tradition, Maestro Bocelli sang as YuMi directed "La Donna è Mobile," the famous aria from Verdi's "Rigoletto." YuMi continued conducting as soloist Maria Luigia Borsi sang the classic soprano aria "O mio babbino caro" from "Gianni Schicchi" by Puccini. To conclude, YuMi also conducted a passage from Mascagni's intermezzo from the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana."
A 15-minute interlude in the evening program, this unique event showed that collaboration between humans and robots can work perfectly.
Maestro Bocelli, was exuberant in his praise of the ...
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