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| While most of us were sleeping, the world of robotics has been advancing rapidly! Robots are now so life-like that, in many instances, it is hard to tell robots from humans! The robots in this music video were manufactured in Japan in early 2007. They’re part of the L247 “C” series of robots, and are being marketed to extremely rich customers in California and various parts of Europe. Very few people can afford them, as prices for units of this quality range from 1.3 – 2.9 million dollars! Furthermore, the tasks they are able to perform are still very basic. Indeed, their most striking feature is how life-like they appear to be. They’re a major step up from their predecessor, the L247 “B” series! (See below). For the most part, you can tell they’re robots. However, there are several scenes in the video where you might be convinced they are human! The song they perform was actually written by them, using a program developed by Professor William "Red" Whittaker, a robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University
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The robots were given the names Charles, Barbarella, and Briana. Robot Charles plays the drums (very rudimentary rhythms). He also paints, and is programmed for cooking, food serving, and some cleaning. In addition, he can perform simple maintenance on the other robots. Charles is the least life-like of the three, yet he does look remarkably real in many aspects. Robot Barbarella is programmed for food serving, cooking, and cleaning, and has the ability to play chess. She is able to walk like a human, including going up and down stairs. You will be absolutely convinced she is human when you see her walk! She plays also beginner keyboards. Robot Briana is the most animated of the robots. Her movements are very lively and playful. She is, perhaps, the most life-like of the three. In fact, her natural movements almost completely tap the resources or her CPU, leaving her very few other skills. She plays keyboards at an elementary level, and is programmed for ordinary chores, like cleaning and food serving. However, she is unable to perform any complicated tasks (like chess, etc). The song is a truly collaborative effort from all three. It was completed after several “jam sessions,” in which the trio communicated back and forth through radio transmissions. Their live collaborations were transmitted via blue tooth technology to a MIDI player. A panel of music professors were presented with a total of about two hundred and twelve different versions of the song, before selecting the one that is used in this video. The video itself is a fictionalized account of a day in the life of these robots. The concept was story boarded, and the robots were set up in the various scenes to “act out” their parts. While they can play their musical instruments to a certain degree, their movements are still a bit too choppy for actual live performance. They often miss notes on the keyboards and lose the correct timing. In the video they simply sync their movements to previously recorded music. These sequences took about three days to shoot. The individual shots were then edited together, in much the same way a music video with real people would be. The lone human in the video is a talented actor from Canada by the name of Bill Hutchinson. Feel free to contact him with any questions you might have about his experience working with such a “talented” group of robots. You can email him at: Vocals for the song were written and performed by Noel Blake, also from Canada. Negotiations are underway for the song to be used in various film and television productions, and several bands are vying to purchase the song for release on their upcoming albums. Anyone interesting in bidding on the rights to the song, feel free to contact us. Send any questions, comments or inquiries to: We hope you enjoy “Leave Us Alone!” P.S. In case you’re wondering: No, the robots weren’t designed for sex!
     
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The L247 “B” – predecessor to the L247 “C”
