If you needed further proof that we're quickly approaching the day when robots will outperform humans in all our endeavors, you may want to turn your attention to a tech demo for the Guitar Hero-playing "Cythbot", which we've posted after the jump. Using a light-measuring camera and six pneumatic "fingers", the Cythbot can strum its way through Guitar Hero's more difficult songs with terrifying accuracy -- check out the Expert run through Living Color's "Cult of Personality" in the embedded video.
In a recent write-up of the robo-shredder, Wired compared Cythbot to the chess-playing supercomputer "Deep Blue", which toppled World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov in 1996. We'd like to see the Kasparov of Guitar Hero, Chris Chike, take on the Cythbot in a battle for the fate of humanity -- though we're not certain that Mr. "I scored 100 percent on Dragonforce" isn't, in fact, also a robot.
[Thanks, Saria the Cat.]
Reader Comments (75)
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 8:53PM MrSpaceCowboy said
Isaac Asimov says: "So robots: Start rock bands. Set down the Guitar Hero, learn how to play an actual guitar and start a band, because it's hard to find more bands to put a robotic rock-and-roll package together, to get out there. It's getting harder and harder, but I think we've done it."
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:09PM WiredKnight said
@foetoid
Yea, if by "choose," you mean "forced to play."
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Yea, if by "choose," you mean "forced to play."
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 6:08PM (Unverified) said
I just want to see that thing FC'ing TFAF on Expert.
I bet those lights would just stay on...
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I bet those lights would just stay on...
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:21PM CynicalStrike said
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 6:20PM (Unverified) said
i'd buy one of those just to hear the reactions of every single person on live as they get their ass handed to them
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 6:22PM (Unverified) said
Something about the way this cold, unfeeling machine adds some kind of sick "personality" to the song by even taking the effort to strum the Whammy Bar seriously terrifies me. I'm not even kidding.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:57PM falcomadol said
Do you even get a benefit of using the whammy bar in Guitar Hero? You do in RB (builds up extra overdrive), I just don't really play the competition, so I'm not sure.
I'd be much more impressed if this robot had only four fingers to fret with instead of five though.
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I'd be much more impressed if this robot had only four fingers to fret with instead of five though.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 11:26PM (Unverified) said
You do get a benefit of extra points, but about the 5 fingers, robots have the advantage of having as many fingers as they want. You can't hold that against them. :/
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Posted: Nov 24th 2008 3:33AM Batzarro The worlds WOrst Detect said
What frightens me is that someone took the time to make a machine that simulates a player simulating a rockstar. At this point, it's a machine raping another machine, who is pretending to enjoy it.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:45PM thabrownieviking said
Im sorry i find it appalling that so many people would waste so much time on a useless endeavor such as this. :(
last time i checked there were bigger problems to deal with than, "hey do you have a robot to play guitar hero?, No, well shit let me get right on that!"
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last time i checked there were bigger problems to deal with than, "hey do you have a robot to play guitar hero?, No, well shit let me get right on that!"
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:40PM WiiFTW said
Who are you to judge what a company does? It's not like taxpayer money is going to this.
Also, this is quite obviously not their final product; they're going to build on what they figured out from this setup and useful products in the future.
Anyways, video games are probably a worse use of time than the implementation of a Guitar Hero-playing robot, Mr. JeSuZ Cicle of the Joystiq Moral Police
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Also, this is quite obviously not their final product; they're going to build on what they figured out from this setup and useful products in the future.
Anyways, video games are probably a worse use of time than the implementation of a Guitar Hero-playing robot, Mr. JeSuZ Cicle of the Joystiq Moral Police
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:27PM LaughingTarget said
I see an interesting improvement on visual recognition software. Hardly a waste of time. It does have kinks to workout (4 of them, 1 for each missed stroke), but it's quite the project. Judging by the surroundings and time of year, this is likely a semester end project for an engineering student.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 10:42PM Saria the Cat said
I'm pretty shocked at how much people think this kind of project is a waste of time. This is great progress towards better visual recognition and hand-eye-coordination for robots, one of the main issues in robotics right now. Once we can get machines to recognize visual cues and react to them properly, we can achieve much greater, "useful" feats.
Calling anything like this a "waste of time" just proves you don't know how scientific progress works. Electricity was discovered by Ben jerking off and flying a kite in the air for hours.
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Calling anything like this a "waste of time" just proves you don't know how scientific progress works. Electricity was discovered by Ben jerking off and flying a kite in the air for hours.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:02PM LaughingTarget said
Someone give me this guy's friend code, Live ID and PSN ID so I know to never play him.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:21PM (Unverified) said
i think it's on the wii because it's easier to input those controls into a computer.
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Posted: Nov 23rd 2008 12:39PM LocalToast said
@UltimateQ
Clearly even you don't realize what exactly is going on here.
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Clearly even you don't realize what exactly is going on here.
Posted: Nov 23rd 2008 2:09PM (Unverified) said
He's likely using the Wii because the WiiMote connects via bluetooth.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:22PM (Unverified) said
That section where it missed a few notes? That was SkyNet, becoming self-aware.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:31PM (Unverified) said
I was thinking the other day that I wanted something like this to do Raining Blood on hard for me! If only these were commercialised...
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:33PM (Unverified) said
What fun would the game be if a machine played the game for you?
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:39PM (Unverified) said
Yeah that's true. I'd end up not playing the game. It's an excellent experiment though!
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 8:12PM (Unverified) said
That it is. But it doesn't do anything cool past that
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Posted: Nov 23rd 2008 3:15AM The Blank Mage Returns said
What fun would the game be if a machine played the game for you?
You may not have realized it, but you just put your finger on why FFXII was disappointing.
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You may not have realized it, but you just put your finger on why FFXII was disappointing.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:45PM thabrownieviking said
Haha @ WiiFTW I think your just jealous they havent developed a robot to jack you off at night, while you silently weep and stroke your Wii, while whispering "shhhh, the good games will come, I promise"
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:20PM Gumbercules said
Saria does, although I can't vouch for how useful such a robot would be to her..
But in any case, I must tip my hat to JeSuZ. His witty comeback's truly must have divine inspiration.
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But in any case, I must tip my hat to JeSuZ. His witty comeback's truly must have divine inspiration.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 10:35PM Saria the Cat said
@DocZoid: Those robots are flying off the shelves here, but fortunately I personally have no need of them. :P
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 7:56PM (Unverified) said
"hay guyz, let's zoom the camera out and stare at the guitar during the entire super-intense solo"
As it stands, I and many others are more talented than that robot. When it can 100% some songs, let me know.
Also, teach it to hammer-on.
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As it stands, I and many others are more talented than that robot. When it can 100% some songs, let me know.
Also, teach it to hammer-on.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 8:35PM Bridget said
Funny stuff!
They say it can't FC a song because sometimes the notes come too fast for the pneumatics to work. It doesn't seem to recognize HO/PO notes, so it's essentially brute forcing the entire solo. It's kind of impressive on that count. I doubt people who FC songs approach them that way since, for the most part, strumming is "just another thing to go wrong."
Also, the way the robot moves the whammy bar is hilarious. XD
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They say it can't FC a song because sometimes the notes come too fast for the pneumatics to work. It doesn't seem to recognize HO/PO notes, so it's essentially brute forcing the entire solo. It's kind of impressive on that count. I doubt people who FC songs approach them that way since, for the most part, strumming is "just another thing to go wrong."
Also, the way the robot moves the whammy bar is hilarious. XD
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 10:00PM falcomadol said
You definitely need to learn to use the hammers ons. You can play without and muddle through for a lot of songs, but you reach a plateau where you just can't do any more without them.
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Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 8:40PM Seven Weasels Running on a Keybo said
FAKE!
That bot is totally using a bot.
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That bot is totally using a bot.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:01PM WiredKnight said
As cool as that is, it's nothing like a chess computer.
Chess computers analyze strategy and play patterns, predicting movements hundreds of turns ahead. This is just a machine that reacts to light.
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Chess computers analyze strategy and play patterns, predicting movements hundreds of turns ahead. This is just a machine that reacts to light.
Posted: Nov 22nd 2008 9:08PM WiredKnight said
On a side note, I wonder if it would work better on Rock Band, having the notes on a more solid, darker background....
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