Robot
In 1928, one of the first humanoid robots, Eric, was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Model Engineers Society in London, where it delivered a speech. Invented by W. H. Richards, the robot's frame consisted of an aluminium body of armour with eleven electromagnets and one motor powered by a twelve-volt power source. The robot could move its hands and head and could be controlled through remote control or voice control. Both Eric and his "brother" George toured the world.
Gil Weinberg
Weinberg has developed a number of novel musical instruments for novices, such as the Beatbugs, and the Squeezables before conceiving the field of Robotic Musicianship. In 2005, he created the world first improvising robot, Haile, which can listen to human musicians, improvise and play along using a variety of musical algorithms. His next inventions were Shimon an improvising robotic marimba player that can improvise like jazz masters, and Travis (also known as Shimi), a smart-phone enabled robotic musical companion that is designed to enhance listeners musical experiences. Shimi is currently being commercialized by Tovbot Inc.