MOJA: The Chinese Style Robotic Musical Play on Stage
MOJA, a Chinese style robotic band performed a musical play in Tsinghua University on April 27th. The three robotic players of the band played traditional Chinese musical instruments – the bamboo flute, the Chinese harp, and the drum set. They have stylish names that originated from the Big Dipper – Alioth the Jade, Alkaid the Light, and Mizar the Sun.
The play, called the Phantom of MOJA, tells a story about a student who invents musical robots in a lab and faces many challenges throughout. The human actor and robot players play together on the stage.
This project was developed by an interdisciplinary team, which consists of robot engineers, sculpture artists, new media artists, drama experts, and musicians. Two-thirds of the members come from the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University.
Dr. Haipeng Mi, who leads this project, is a pioneer of robotic art in China. He hopes to connect the cutting-edge robot technology with the traditional Chinese culture.
