This is What Sino-Japanese Friendship Looks Like

Congratulations, Japan, and thank you Toyota.  [And thanks to Singularity Hub and the tongue-twisting Daily Discovegestionary Babel for the links.]  You have now officially captured the hearts of the Chinese people by designing a robot that not only has perfect bow placement and can vibrato on long notes, but one that plays Chinese folk songs at the Shanghai Expo.  This is a feat that not even the South Koreans could accomplish, the nation that produced Sarah Chang! (I’m not implying she’s a robot; anything but.  In fact I should highly recommend Chang’s recent recording of the Brahms Violin Concerto, Op. 77, with its attractively deliberate resistance to pulse.  But Hyundai, on the other hand, was resistant to competing with Japan on the robot violin innovation front.)  Jealousy, pride, and friendship levels really need to be running high about this sort of thing.