Piano Gloves

Description

As an initial foray into the world of physical computing and alternative interfaces, I decided to create a piano-like device that flipped the traditional arrangement by placing the trigger upon the user’s fingertips rather than its standard location as part of a control surface. This idea evolved into a set of gloves that allow a user to play a sound by pressing any surface.

Demo Video

Technology

The gloves were built using an Arduino NG along with an array of simple components—mostly purchased from Sparkfun Electronics. The onboard software sends a simple set of commands via serial over usb to a Processing sketch that actually triggers the sound samples.

Slideshow

Status

The Piano Gloves exist as a rough prototype at this point and the software supports either mapping each finger to a range of semitones or to notes in a particular scale. As they were created primarily as a learning exercise, I currently have no plans to develop them further—however, I’d be happy to share the Arduino or Processing code that runs the rig, though admittedly they are extremely simple sketches.