This is Waseda Flutist No. 4 Refined IV.
It was unveiled at the BioRob 2008 conference in Arizona two weeks ago. The scientists created artificial lips with the elasticity of human lips and embedded pins, which control their shape.

The robot’s tongue has been redesigned to enable the double-tonguing technique – the high-speed playing used throughout the famous ‘Flight of the Bumblee’. It even has an in-built mechanism to create vibrato, which can take human players years to master, that changes the amplitude and frequency of the robot’s airflow.

The lungs are composed of two air-tight acrylic cases, with a bellow that allows them to breathe in and out. And the robot’s eyes have two cameras that allow it to interact with the audience and other musicians, so we could soon see it playing duets with people source

Research on the musical robot began in 1990, with the aim that it would eventually rival human musicians. But the WF-4RIV is more than just a gimmick. The makers hope to make it sophisticated enough to achieve better human-computer interaction and then teach music to pupils.

Watch the video after the jump. So impressive!