World’s Largest Toe Tap Piano

I just love the way that Hammacher tends to use superlative words in describing their goods, and this time around, we have what they deem to be the $79.95 World’s Largest Toe Tap Piano. Of course, I do not doubt them after seeing the size of that thing, which measures a whopping 10-feet in length, making it indisputably the largest dance-on piano around the globe. Boasting a 35’ square space, this piano mat allows your merry home of budding virtuosos to compose their own music as they dance, jump, and basically romp on the keys, using their ever increasing body weight to their advantage.

The thing is, chances are they will not be composing the next big tune, but rather, make a large, random din around the home. You ought to be best prepared if you intend to work at home while your kids are having the time of their lives with the World’s Largest Toe Tap Piano, where a pair of ear plugs would come highly recommended. After all, screaming kids are already something that takes getting used to, but with the accompaniment of music – random one at that? Its insane, but worth every penny you pay for. Replicating sound from eight different instruments (piano, saxophone, violin, organ, trumpet, harp, vibraphone, guitar), it can also hook up to an iPod or another MP3 player, letting budding musicians play along to their favorite songs if they want to.

[ World’s Largest Toe Tap Piano copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]


Stanley interactive piano player takes song requests via Twitter

If you intend to spend you weekend tweeting while listening songs on the radio, you have to check out Stanley. Stanley is actually an interactive piano player that will be performing live beginning July 20 to 22. Yes, as of this writing, Stanley’s busy backstage preparing for his first show. But before you idolize Stanley, he’s actually a project created by the folks over at Digital Kitchen. Sorry girls, he’s wired to play the piano all day. But you can send your song requests via Twitter. So, how does it work?

Stanley is equipped with a computer that receives song requests via Twitter. The computer then queues the songs and sends a reply each time a song is ready to be played. Since Stanley has tons of songs stored on its MIDI library, it will send data to its hardware controller so that each note will activate a solenoid valve to play the keys on the piano. You can check out Stanley here. While the project is interesting, its creators have no plans of selling the piano player in the future. Instead, Digital Kitchen says that it will be hanging in the office waiting for his next big gig.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tweet sends Bahrain activist to jail, Twitter for BlackBerry updated,

Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills

Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation, motor skills

We’ve seen a good number of electronic gloves before, and now researchers at Georgia Tech have devised one to rehabilitate patients who suffer from paralyzing spinal cord injuries while teaching them how to tickle the ivories. Christened Mobile Music Touch, the black mitt pairs with a keyboard and cues individual fingers with vibrations to play notes. The handgear also buzzes constantly for several hours to stimulate recovery while users go about their day, similar to another yellowjacket-developed solution. After treatment, some patients could pick up objects and feel textures they hadn’t been able to — especially remarkable since, according to the university, little improvement is typically seen a year after injuries are sustained. Folks who learned to play the piano with the device also experienced better results than those who did without it. Project leader Dr. Tanya Markow believes that the rehab’s success could be caused by renewed brain activity that sometimes lies dormant. For the full skinny, head past the break for the press release and a video of the gauntlet in action.

[Thanks, Timothy]

Continue reading Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills

Filed under:

Vibrating glove gives piano lessons, helps rehab patients regain finger sensation and motor skills originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGeorgia Tech  | Email this | Comments