Music has the ability to soothe, entertain, and even lets one express emotion. People with certain disabilities, however, can have a difficult time playing many traditional instruments. To help with this, hackers Alessandro Verdiesen and Luuk van Kuijk have come up with the Airdrum, a modular device constructed in the shape of a half-moon. It’s played by holding one’s hand — or even other body parts — above the correct sensor PCB, enabling nearly anyone to produce a tune.
The Airdrum uses a custom IR sensor on each of the six individual boards to detect which note is needed, with sensor data sent to an Arduino Uno. This is then passed along to a Raspberry Pi, which turns these inputs into individual notes. An internal amplifier was chosen to output the audio, and the Pi’s aux jack will provide a useful output alternative.
The instrument is currently mocked up in a prototype state, and can be seen playing Frère Jacques in the video below. It’s envisioned that the boards will ultimately sit in their own individual recessions. This will protect them from damage and allow light coming from the reactive LEDs to be diffused for a more pleasing visual feedback. Whatever your physical and musical abilities, it looks like a lot of fun to play!