Compared to a virtuoso, its rendition was a trifle stilted and, well, robotic. But Toyota’s new robot plays a pretty solid Pomp and Circumstance on the violin, AP reports from Tokyo.

The 152-centimetre-tall robot, shown on Thursday, used its mechanical fingers to push the strings correctly and bowed with its other arm, coordinating the movements well.

Toyota Motor Corporation has already shown robots that roll around to work as guides and have fingers dexterous enough to play the trumpet.

Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said robotics will be a core business for the company. Toyota will test out its robots at hospitals, Toyota-related facilities and other places starting next year, he said. And the company hopes to put partner robots to real use by 2010, he said.

“We want to create robots that are useful for people in everyday life,” he told reporters at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo.