Autonomous Robots Play Soundsin Cleveland Public Library

FriendsWithYou, the art collaboration of Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, plants five moving and autonomous fuzzy robots inside the Cleveland Public Library. They’re called The BAND, and they’re programmed with AI and to interact with the visitors and vice versa. They play healing frequencies and sounds as they rotate, spin, and ‘dance.’ Visitors are free to touch them, and they even have buttons around their fuzzy bodies that can be pressed.

Each member of the BAND, which stands for Biodigital Autonomous Neuro Dancers, has individual names stemming from numerology and frequencies (ROC, ETZ, LIX, PMJ, and FUR). As they move around Cleveland Public Library’s hall, they perform their ballet, a personalized program by FriendsWithYou, to the symphony of sounds by the artists’s long-time collaborator, Norman Bambi. The public art is on view in the library’s hall beginning October 26th, 2024.

FriendsWithYou’s Robots Can Help the Public Connect with AI

FriendsWithYou’s five fuzzy autonomous robots have five vibrant hair colors: yellow, blue, purple, pink, and green. They light up inside the Cleveland Public Library hall because the circular buttons around their bodies are switched on as they move around their space. They are soft to touch, and they seem to have their own thinking as they avoid ramming through people; they instead stop and rotate while playing ambient-like sounds that are connected with healing frequencies. During its opening on October 26th, families came to the library to experience petting the five fuzzy robots’ furry bodies and listen to the sound beats reverberating in the hall.

FriendsWithYou has their fuzzy robots playing healing frequencies because they want the public to have a joyful connection and experience with AI. For the duo Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, the evolving technology can be a catalyst for deep human and digital relationships, away from how some internet users paint it as takeover machines. With The BAND, the duo hopes to showcase a more positive use of AI and advanced technologies, that is, to provide and co-create communal experiences with the public. The BAND is on view for one year in the Main Library in Brett Hall at the Cleveland Public Library, produced in collaboration with LAND Studio and Deeplocal.