<p> <i> 11.38 am </i>

Android Choir Impresses, Leonidas Would Have Been Proud

A set of 300 smartphones and tablets all running on the Android
 operating system have been arranged to form a chorus at
the Omotesando Hills commercial complex in Tokyo's Shibuya
 Ward in an event that continues until Feb. 15.

Smartphones and tablets can be a real workout for the fingers at times. Imagine orchestrating 300 of them, as they perform such classics as “My Grandfather’s Clock” and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”

Erina Sato did just that on Feb. 13 at the Omotesando Hills commercial complex in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, where she conducted a whole choir of devices all running on the Android operating system.

“It was a lot of fun, but my arms are like rubber now,” said the 22-year-old, after five minutes as a chorus master. “The experience has really given me an appreciation of how hard it must be to be a real conductor, like Seiji Ozawa. So I think I’ll just stick to using a single phone.”

Continuing until Feb. 15, the chorus was put together by Google Japan to bring attention to the Android system it has developed for smartphones and tablets. When a chorus master takes the stage, various cartoon characters materialize on each of the 300 screens, all based on the green robot logo that appears when Android boots up.

“That’s really cool, because I only ever see the robot after I’ve had to shut down my phone or when I’m upgrading the operating system,” said Kyle Harrington, 25, an American tourist who discovered the event, which is free to the public.

The chorus of devices is connected to motion sensors and change pitch in response to the waving of the arms by conductors. Its repertoire includes five songs, which are performed twice an hour.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. through Feb. 15.</p>