Robots are now capable of reading novels and turn those texts into short pieces of music, according to a report by Popular Science.

The robots were programmed with an algorithm that performs sentiment analysis, a method that allows artificial intelligence to identify the emotions of its subjects, and transform the feelings drawn from the text into music.

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Sometime in 2012, a BBC article was published about machines that write love letters and personal email responses, even predict the future sizes of markets.

Now, computer scientists and experts have upped the ante and are using a technique that would make the likes of Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury smile in their graves.

TransPose, the name of the algorithm, was created by Hannah Davis at New York University and Saif Mohammad at the National Research Council Canada.

TransPose uses the same kind of technique in the way emotional temperature is analyzed.

This time, the two researchers applied TransPose to novels and analyzed the sentiments found in them.

The process is also similar to what critical theorists do - use discourse analysis to interpret the real meaning of content.

In the case of TransPose, it uses a computer algorithm that reflects the evolving mood of the book and transforms it into music.

How does the algorithm work? It follows three logical steps.

The first involves dividing a novel into four parts and then creates an emotion profile for each. That means the algorithm can determine the text's emotions at the beginning, early middle, late middle and ending of a novel.

The second culls the emotions identified per part and TransPose develops the background music that fits each section.

The two researchers were able to automate this process. They have developed mapping programs that can identify the right tempo, sequence of notes and musical keys involved.

The step involves converting the generated music into an audio file with the piano as an instrument. The two use JFugue, an open source program.

"The work has applications in information visualization, in creating audio-visual e-books, and in developing music apps," Davis and Mohammad said.

TagsRobots, AI, computer algorithm, Novels, Music, TransPose