When the machines finally rise up and take over the world, at least we'll know who to blame.
First, IBM rocked the international chess scene with supercomputer Deep Blue's 1997 victory over World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov.
Later, the same company debuted Watson, a giant computer designed strike fear into the hearts of puny humans everywhere with its "Jeopardy!" dominance.
Now, computer chip-maker Intel is taking on the musicians and Rube Goldbergs of the world in one fell swoop with a robotic orchestra known as the "Intel Industrial Control in Concert."
Originally debuted at the 2011 Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the contraption uses 2,300 rubber balls launched by 36 paint ball hoppers to play a 2,372 note song.
According to an Intel press release, the $160,000 device was constructed to "demonstrate the simplicity of building a state-of-the-art smart system using off-the-shelf technologies based on common x86 chip architecture."
Specifically, that off-the-shelf technology includes seven of the company's Atom processors working in tandem to control a collection of vibraphones, xylophones, high-hats, drums and other instruments.
"This thing has seven Atom processors total, from three different generations, that are working together harmoniously to play the song," said Marc Christenson, whose company Sisu Devices co-built the project with Intel, said in the press release.
The machine was inspired by a 2004 song "Pipe Dream" and its accompanying 3-D animation, produced by the entertainment company Animusic.
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The Huffington Post | By John Stephens Posted: 02/16/12 05:51 PM ET | Updated: 02/17/12 09:45 AM ET