Learning a musical instrument is difficult for most people. This is even more true if you are trying to learn on your own. That's why many of us packed our dusty guitars and keyboards into the rafters of our attics a few days ago, while croquet mallets and badminton birdies flew by.
London-based Roli's latest offering brings a ray of hope to the musically hopeless and rhythmically challenged. Airwave is an attempt to lower the barrier to entry into piano by leveraging hand tracking and AI to bring a level of customization to the process that was previously limited to in-person lessons.
Airwave is a large arch-shaped device that is compatible with existing Roli keyboards. Utilizes a 3D camera to track hand movements and gestures, adding nuance to your performance that the keys themselves can't fully capture.
The system works with the Seaboard, the flexible keyboard that made Roli famous nearly a decade ago. But even more appealing is the integration with Piano M. This is a rebrand of the Roli Lumi educational keyboard launched in 2020. Piano M's light-up keys, combined with hand tracking, give you more insight into how you're playing.
Of course, everything requires some kind of AI. To that end, the company launched Roli Music Intelligence. MI for short.
“The platform is built on core technologies developed over the past decade and leverages five technology 'keys': sound, vision, tactile, and now vision and voice,” the company wrote. . “The ROLI MI platform will be the foundation of our roadmap for future intelligent products, including Airwave.”
According to Roli, the system is trained on a large-scale language model (LLM) for natural voice commands. Ask the system for tips, help with chords, and access complete songs.
The company positions its peripherals as more than just educational tools. Hand tracking is like an AI-powered theremin and can also be used for music creation.
“Creators can, like a conductor, turn a piano into a full orchestra by simply raising their hand, or turn a mellow synth pad into a searing lead with a tilt of the wrist,” Lori wrote. I am. “Airwave allows musicians to unleash deeper levels of creativity with five intuitive new dimensions: Airglide; AirTilt; Airflex and Airslide.”
Airwave will be available for pre-order starting Tuesday, priced at $299. The newly rebranded Piano M is priced at $259.