Dr. Dennis Hong is a friend of the blog, and we are a friend of his, so anytime his RoMeLa group does something noteworthy (which seems to be a LOT) we try to give him some pub. So check this one out …

Earlier in December, Dr. Hong’s RoMeLa humanoid robot DARwin conducted the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra in Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” … that’s right, DARwin, a robot, conducted a symphony.  He’s told me before how it’s done, but I don’t understand a word.  It should be noted this isn’t a preprogrammed response to the song – this thing is actually conducting and responding.  Freaky.  So enjoy, and congratulations to Dr. Hong and his amazing group of students.  (It takes a couple of minutes to get into the song, but well worth the wait).

Updated 12/19 8:21am And it looks like Hong and his group have won another international award. Underachievers – just imagine what they could do if they actually applied themselves. 🙂