Acrobot + Robot arm étude

In The Acrobot (30 min), internationally acclaimed creative technologist and circus performer Daniel Simu shows how entirely new circus worlds open up when robotics are introduced into the equation. After admiring his juggling robotic arm with a human hand (Robot Arm Étude), he invites you to ask any questions that may bubble to the surface. 

The Acrobot – An acrobatic duet between human and robot
Artificial intelligence and technology play an increasingly central role in our daily lives, yet they often feel distant and impersonal. In The Acrobot, we see a striking acrobatic duet between a specially developed robot and Daniel Simu. In doing so, technology suddenly takes on a deeply human dimension, as Daniel asks provocative questions about our digital future. 

Through high-level acrobatics, Daniel tells a personal story about his discovery of the Acrobot, and in the same breath questions our relationship with machines and the future of the performing arts. The Acrobot is continuously evolving in collaboration with engineers, university lecturers, and programmers. 

As an ambassador of the Delft innovation festival The Robots Are Coming, Daniel engages audiences worldwide with technology. Rather than overwhelming you, his work encourages you to build, play, and experiment.  

Robot Arm Études - A technological circus experiment in a public lab
In Robot Arm Études, you step into Daniel Simu’s lab, where precision and timing are used to explore the interaction between him and an industrial robot arm with a human hand. Juggling, visuals, performance art, and robotics come together in a remarkable choreography that opens up new perspectives on the humanity of technology. Is technology a risk? Or can it also become an equal partner?  

Reflect on and examine human and machine
For Robot Arm Études, Daniel Simu, dramaturg Joyce den Hertog, and interaction designer Wouter Lucifer drew inspiration from the concept of the étude. An étude is a musical exercise in which a single technical or expressive element is carefully broken down and explored. Through an interactive session, Daniel invites you to explore questions like: What is actually happening in the “mind” of the machine? Can it respond to the audience and its human counterpart? Can a machine be more than just an executor of instructions?  

Get a glimpse of the future – goosebumps and all – and discover why Daniel is showing audiences around the world what's possible when you play with technological creations.  

At first, you think: how cute and clever, a robot. But then, that dancing turns into masterful hand-to-hand acrobatics.” - Circusweb about The Acrobot.