Virtual Air Guitar system from Finland

Aaah, Finland, home of the Air Guitar. Other nations waste their time developing rockets and vaccines and new types of fruit smoothie. Not Finland. Their version of the Manhattan Project is the Air Guitar Project, which is funded by the European Union, three different universities, once Science Centre and one Computer Arts Centre. The result? A guy in orange gloves standing in front of a webcam. When his right hand moves up and down, it triggers a note. When his left hand moves in and out, it triggers a pitch. Keeping with the pleasingly retro 1991 tech theme, they have a virtual reality version, and are developing a VST version. (Thanks, Wiley and WMMNA)

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

this blog entry is just hilarious. awesome.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:44 pm

Even with all that funding it must be hard to get Matt Damon to do the trailer - props!

# posted by

Anonymous : 12:52 am

this will take the UK Air Guitar Championships to a new level:
http://www.ukairguitar.com/

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:50 pm

i'll believe it when i hear them play rumble..
--
j.v.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:06 pm

you have fallen victim to one misconception, which is almost predominant amongst non-finns:

the people responsible for that are almost certainly from the helsinki university of technology (the finnish term for those types is "teekkari").

they are not, in essence, finns. one could argue that they are not even human, since they do not appeal to the opposite sex enough to have the opportunity to breed.

they are something that exist alongside with the finnish population. one cannot wholly rid finland of teekkaris. until a desolate island is found where to deport them (mind you, we do have this demilitarized island called ahvenanmaa, that could cut it), you just have to hope against falling prey to their contaminating presence. they actually share many features with the dark ages leper.

appearance: they look strikingly like your run-of-the-mill nerd, but their ability to geekify ordinary people is off the charts compared to mere nerds.

how to avoid: stay alert. be afraid. no need to play dead, though, as is with bears: a teekkari is best repelled by feigning tech-ignorance. most of the time people learn to know a teekkari only after they've struck. unfortunately. being aware of your surroundings is the key.

i choose to disguise myself in anonymity in fear of retaliation. like i said, be afraid. you see, even the average teekkari is extremely adept at handling computers. despite my attempt to stay anonymous, i probably can't be reached online after this, due to mailbombing/remote computer takeover/some other hideous attack that i don't even know the name for.

# posted by

Anonymous : 6:56 pm

Stay where you are. We are going to pick you up shortly, take you to Otaniemi and force you to play air-guitar, drink copious amounts of beer and discuss the inner workings of operating kernels.

No girls allowed. Except if they are teekkaris too (i.e. technically not "girls"), and know the secret handshake.

# posted by

Anonymous : 7:28 pm