The world of art plays an important role in human lives. The art mesmerizes and inspires us. It unleashes the creative energy and challenges conventional thinking. It provokes new thoughts and compels us to ask new questions. Can robots play a role in the art world?



Fictional robots have been playing prominent roles in movies for many years. Star Wars movies will not be the same without C-3PO and R2D2. The use of robots in movies enables writers to create new plots and enables actors to interact with superhuman characters.



The field of robotics has made tremendous progress. We now have truly remarkable robots. Can these real robots influence the art world?



I had an opportunity to interview Huang Yi on Thursday September 24, 2015 in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. He is one of the pioneers of a new form of dance. His partner is a Kuka robot!





Kogod Theater Stage (Photograph by Rebecca Copeland)

He currently uses a large intimidating orange Kuka robot in his performances. He said that he liked the Kuka robot because of its form. He programs his “dance partner” to glide through a space in harmony with music. Huang Yi and the robot move in unison during the performance and are able to express emotions to complement and augment the ambiance created by the music. His thought provoking performance asks us to examine the relationship between humans and robots.





Huang Yi's Dance Partner

(Photograph by Rebecca Copeland)

Huang Yi likes the complete predictability of the robot moves. It makes the dance safe and enables him to keep the tempo high without worrying about the need to constantly watch the robot. Currently it takes him ten hours of programming to create one minute of performance.



I wonder how this form of dance will change as robots become more intelligent and safe? Safety will encourage many more people to explore dancing with robots. Intelligence will enable robots to react to human moves and hopefully it will become easier to create new dance moves.

Huang Yi in the lab with our Kuka robots

(Photograph by Rebecca Copeland)