He even influenced modern systems of the steam engine and to some extent, automatic controls. Al-Jazari was a genius born in the 12th century and he died in the early 13th century. His skills were ...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5DgC-SOXmU&w=640&h=390] Sure, this starts out great, but watch this performance degenerate into the flatulence of robo-satan ...

Minnesota-based electronic artist Patrick Flanagan leads the band Jazari, but to call it a "band" would be generous. Flanagan is Jazari's only member, and he uses two Wii remotes that he's programmed ...

We've seen the hacker-friendly, Bluetooth-based Wiimote used for so many purposes by now that it's hard to get excited about just any amalgamation of accelerometer-based fun. Patrick Flanagan's ...

As anyone who’s been to Chuck E Cheese’s knows, robotic bands have been under development for years. Patrick Flanagan’s cyborg percussion ensemble, Jazari seems to take things to a new level. As ...

From water pumps to musical automatons, Ismail al-Jazari's extraordinary machines ranged from practical to playful, delighting farmers and kings alike. A miniature from al-Jazari’s Book of Knowledge ...

Illustration of the Archimedes automatic wind instrumentalist (image courtesy Hatje Cantz) In 2009, Tokyo’s Waseda University built a fedora-sporting flautist robot powered by cranked air. But this is ...