We’ve talked a lot on CDM about the future of instrument design. Here’s one for you. It’s entirely wireless. It’s touchless, but it uses sophisticated gesture tracking to translate motions into sound. Incredibly, it’s able to track the exact position of your body, wherever you are. It requires no electricity. No matter your skill level or experience, or even if you have any musical background whatsoever, you always sound exactly like your favorite guitarists. It only produces music you love; it doesn’t function with music you don’t.
Sophisticated new instrument from researchers at an academic institution? Straight out of the skunkworks at a major Asian electronics company? Nope. Just some people dressed up in embarrassing outfits waggling their fingers, actually.
Gnarly. Air Guitar Nation gets its wide US release in March 2007. Via Axehole.
(PS, I think you can cancel that whole New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference. This looks like a lot less work.)