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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.
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It’s always been assumed that if a violinist wants to turn professional, he or she needs to get hold of a Stradivari or Guarneri instrument. These violins are so rare that they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, meaning that potential concert violinists have a harsh reality to face in the future if they want to continue making music.
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Why do we love songs that make us cry? The strong emotions they invoke set off a physical reaction that increases our "feel good" hormone dopamine. So even though it seems like we’re unhappy, we’ve never felt HAPPIER!

When psychologist John Sloboda asked people to identify the parts of songs that made them cry, he analyzed these passages and found that they all contained a musical device called an "appoggiatura," which is a type of note that clashes with the melody just enough to create a dissonant sound.
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