All of us have probably tried to learn to play air guitar at least once. Now, some computer scientists in Finland have come up with a device that turns this rock fantasy into real music - an air guitar that really plays.
Learn to Play Air Guitar like a Superstar
The virtual guitar is the discovery of Aki Kinerva and other PC scientists from the Helsinki Varsity of Technology. All that you need is 2 gloves and a camera. Then you take a rock star pose, like you were holding a genuine guitar and just rock away.
The camera will be tracking your hand movement along the hypothetical fret board, as well as the strumming of the other hand. Then the PC will receive the info and turn the gestures into licks and riffs. While you may possibly not share the stage with Eric Clapton, the system gives any individual an opportunity to feel a bit like a rock megastar.
Ever since rock music was born, youths, as well as many adults all around the globe have been playing air guitar while listening to their favorite rock and roll bands on the stereo. Now, these PC scientists in Finland have turned this habit into real music with an air guitar that truly makes some sounds.
How Does It Work?
To make things even better, the technology is nearly entirely invisible. The gloves that you have to wear are merely a pair of ordinary orange gardening gloves. As you are playing ( or in my case, learn how to play air guitar ), a web camera that is programmed to see only the orange color will watch your gloves and track their movement. In realtime, software engineered to recognize gestures will interpret your hand movement into sounds. When you will be moving your hand down the fret board, the sound will go higher, as if you were playing a genuine guitar. It truly feels and sounds as if you were basically playing.
What Can You Actually Play?
Sure, you will not be in a position to do all you are able to do on a genuine guitar. You will not be ready to play songs like Staircase to Heaven on an air guitar. if it worked just like a genuine one, you would most likely have to spend months to learn how to play air guitar. With an air guitar, you get to feel just like a rock guitar player within just a few seconds. The things you can do are limited though.
If you want to learn to play air guitar with Kinerva's technology, there are two models you can choose from: chord and solo mode. If you choose the chord mode, you will only be able to play four different chords. This is indeed limiting, but it's enough for playing the opening chords of songs like "Smoke on the Water" and other rock classics. With the solo mode, it will be as if you were running up and down a pentatonic scale, which is the standard key of rock guitar solos.
The neatest thing is that you cannot really play it badly. Regardless of how you are moving your hands and mixing chords and solo notes, it'll sound like you are playing something.
The whole system works on an ordinary desktop computer. The inventors are now working on a Windows version and air guitar may someday become as common as Game cubes or X-boxes. Who knows, maybe it will even inspire some people to sit down and learn to play a real guitar. - 30404
Learn to Play Air Guitar like a Superstar
The virtual guitar is the discovery of Aki Kinerva and other PC scientists from the Helsinki Varsity of Technology. All that you need is 2 gloves and a camera. Then you take a rock star pose, like you were holding a genuine guitar and just rock away.
The camera will be tracking your hand movement along the hypothetical fret board, as well as the strumming of the other hand. Then the PC will receive the info and turn the gestures into licks and riffs. While you may possibly not share the stage with Eric Clapton, the system gives any individual an opportunity to feel a bit like a rock megastar.
Ever since rock music was born, youths, as well as many adults all around the globe have been playing air guitar while listening to their favorite rock and roll bands on the stereo. Now, these PC scientists in Finland have turned this habit into real music with an air guitar that truly makes some sounds.
How Does It Work?
To make things even better, the technology is nearly entirely invisible. The gloves that you have to wear are merely a pair of ordinary orange gardening gloves. As you are playing ( or in my case, learn how to play air guitar ), a web camera that is programmed to see only the orange color will watch your gloves and track their movement. In realtime, software engineered to recognize gestures will interpret your hand movement into sounds. When you will be moving your hand down the fret board, the sound will go higher, as if you were playing a genuine guitar. It truly feels and sounds as if you were basically playing.
What Can You Actually Play?
Sure, you will not be in a position to do all you are able to do on a genuine guitar. You will not be ready to play songs like Staircase to Heaven on an air guitar. if it worked just like a genuine one, you would most likely have to spend months to learn how to play air guitar. With an air guitar, you get to feel just like a rock guitar player within just a few seconds. The things you can do are limited though.
If you want to learn to play air guitar with Kinerva's technology, there are two models you can choose from: chord and solo mode. If you choose the chord mode, you will only be able to play four different chords. This is indeed limiting, but it's enough for playing the opening chords of songs like "Smoke on the Water" and other rock classics. With the solo mode, it will be as if you were running up and down a pentatonic scale, which is the standard key of rock guitar solos.
The neatest thing is that you cannot really play it badly. Regardless of how you are moving your hands and mixing chords and solo notes, it'll sound like you are playing something.
The whole system works on an ordinary desktop computer. The inventors are now working on a Windows version and air guitar may someday become as common as Game cubes or X-boxes. Who knows, maybe it will even inspire some people to sit down and learn to play a real guitar. - 30404
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