Muzak Robot Reads Your Mind

If a robot could read your mind, it would know what kind of music you’re in the mood to hear and instantly play it for you.

Shimi is a kind of robot jukebox, stuffed with music you like (just like your ipod), but it’s different in one way: it discovers what you want to listen to next via your smartphone.

Inventor Gil Weinberg says, "Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about their music." It’s essentially a docking station with a "brain" powered by an Android phone. Once docked, the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user’s mobile device.

This could be great for the self-employed, but wouldn’t work well with the different musical tastes that might be found in your average office, unless each employee was wearing ear buds.

By using the phone’s camera and face-detecting software, the bot can follow a listener around the room and position its "ears," or speakers, for optimal sound. Another recognition feature is based on rhythm and tempo. If the user taps or claps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone’s musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion. Once the music starts, Shimi dances to the rhythm.

Weinberg says, "If robots are going to arrive in homes, we think that they will be these kind of machines–small, entertaining and fun. They will enhance your life and pave the way for more sophisticated service robots in our lives."

"More sophisticated"–Does that mean SINISTER?

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