Ro-Bow, a kinetic sculpture and violin-playing robot in one, can play digital files by utilizing electromagnetic actuators.
MIT-trained mechanical engineer Seth Goldstein created the unique violin, which features four mechanical fingers powered by old-school rotors, pulleys, and actuators, all controlled by a computer.
Goldstein’s website states the violin is capable of “vibrato, pizzicato, legato, note loudness modulation, and some other bowing effects.”
Ro-bow can reproduce music using an electronic keyboard that generates a MIDI file, and “can handle a fast Irish jig as well as a slow, sentimental tune like ‘Amazing Grace,'” according to Engadget.
