[atlantaprog] Re: Air guitar for real

I think, if developed correctly as a proper musical
instrument and not as a toy, this could have a ton of
potential...especially if there was a way to use
sounds other than what appear to be basic guitar wav
files.  If a group of musicians could use a device
like this to control their own sounds, it could open
an entire realm of possibilities.

CT

--- Allen Welty-Green <agmedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> You guys have been quite lately - here's something
> to talk about:
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/info-tech/dn8383.html
> 
> Air guitarists rock dreams come true
>       18:02 28 November 2005
>       NewScientist.com news service
>       Will Knight
> 
> The Virtual Air Guitar project gives wannabe
> guitarists the chance to  
> rock out (Image: Helsinki University of Technology)
> Aspiring rock gods can at last create their own
> guitar solos - without  
> ever having to pick up a real instrument, thanks to
> a group of Finnish  
> computer science students.
> The Virtual Air Guitar project, developed at the
> Helsinki University of  
> Technology, adds genuine electric guitar sounds to
> the passionately  
> played air guitar.
> Using a computer to monitor the hand movements of a
> "player", the  
> system adds riffs and licks to match frantic mid-air
> finger work. By  
> responding instantly to a wide variety of gestures
> it promises to turn  
> even the least musically gifted air guitarist to a
> virtual fret board  
> virtuoso.
> Aki Kanerva, Juha Laitinen and Teemu Mäki-Patola
> came up with the idea  
> after being invited to develop a virtual instrument
> as part of their  
> coursework. "The first thing that came to mind was
> an air guitar,"  
> Kanerva told New Scientist.
> The resulting system consists of a video camera and
> a computer hooked  
> up to an appropriately loud set of speakers.
> A player then needs only to don a pair of brightly
> coloured gloves in  
> order to rock out. Computer vision software
> automatically keeps track  
> of their hands and detects different gestures, as a
> video of the system  
> in action demonstrates (22MB, requires Windows Media
> Player and DivX  
> codec for the visual aspect of the footage).
> Frenetic strumming
> The Finnish team created a library of guitar sounds
> based around the  
> pentatonic minor scale â?? a progression commonly
> used for rock guitar  
> solos â?? in order to create the right sound for
> their virtual  
> instrument.
> As a player moves their left hand along the neck of
> their virtual  
> guitar, the computer will run through the scale.
> Holding it one place  
> while strumming frenetically produces fret board
> tricks such as  
> hammer-ons â?? where slapping a finger onto an
> already vibrating string  
> produces a higher note â?? and blues bends, which
> give a distinctive  
> rock twang. And a floor pedal can also be used to
> switch the system  
> into mode that plays several different chords.
> Kanerva says players can easily create unique air
> guitar style. "No two  
> playing experiences are quite the same," he says.
> "When you're playing  
> really hard you get a really nasty distortion sound
> which is great â??  
> but you have to work for it."
> The project is currently being demonstrated at the
> Heureka Science  
> Centre in Finland where it has been played more than
> 5000 times over  
> the last month, Kanerva says. As a follow-up, the
> researchers are  
> working on a version that will be compatible with a
> normal webcam and  
> computer, thus giving wannabe rock stars the
> opportunity to practise  
> their art in the privacy of their bedroom.
> For Kanerva, who had to research different guitar
> playing tricks, the  
> project has had another benefit. "I wasn't a
> guitarist before I started  
> the project," he says. "But I am now."
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
> "A mended sock is better than a torn sock; not so
> with  
> self-consciousness".
> Hegel
> 
> 
> 
>
________________________________________________________________________
> 
> _
> 
> 
> 



        
                
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com

Other related posts: