omer yosha: 'airpiano' at DMY berlin design festival 09

‘airpiano’ by omer yosha image © designboomone of the off-site events at DMY berlin ‘extended’ was the ‘let’s get physical – arduino a new material design?’, an exhibition which displayed a number of projects based on arduino. arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform which is used for developing active designs without the help of technicians or engineers. it is intended for anyone who is interested in creating interactive objects or environments. through the use of sensors, arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from external movements.

one of the projects presented as part of the exhibition was omer yosha’s ‘airpiano’. the piano uses a musical interface which allows the playing and controlling of software instruments just by moving one’s hands in the air. the ‘airpiano’ consists of a virtual mix of keys and faders, each assigned with MIDI messages, that are triggered by hand movement. the length of the note is equivalent to the amount of time in which one’s hand is held on the corresponding virtual key. this action is also supported by LED feedback.

using arduino technology, sensors in the airpiano sense movement which trigger notes of the piano image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

exhibition curator, shintaro miyazaki demonstrating how to play the ‘airpiano’ image © designboom

a detail of the arduino technology and the sensors which are embedded in the ‘keyboard’ image © designboom

the entire octave of the piano image © designboom

image © designboom

arduino technology image © designboom

the ‘airpiano’ was available for the public to play image © designboom

a still from an ‘airpiano’ performance