Playing Guitar Without Strings Becomes a Reality

Playing guitar without strings has finally become a reality. British researchers have designed a virtual 'wireless' guitar that puts the power of music in the empty hands of individuals. According to Reuters, the 'Kurv' guitar bears no resemblance to what we know as a guitar. This virtual guitar consists of a small pad with six buttons shaped like a computer mouse that adheres to the palm of the player, and a large guitar pick made of sensors that detect the player's movements. While the melody is created by the movement of the pick, chords and notes are produced by pressing the buttons on the mouse-shaped pad in the palm. An application on a smartphone simultaneously decodes the pressure of the fingers on the pad and the movements of the pick, creating the desired sound: electric, bass, or acoustic. The mouse-shaped pad can be designed for both right-handed and left-handed individuals. Kurv is a London-based startup that specializes in creating virtual guitars. Founded in 2014, the company aims to enable everyone to learn to play the guitar in just a few minutes, even those who have never touched a real guitar in their lives. Suran Gonatillak, one of Kurv's founders, told Reuters, 'What we did was combine a large number of sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnets, and air pressure-sensitive tools with a mobile application that has the computational power to combine musical notes in real-time while playing. We then integrated all of this with new machine learning technologies to understand the meaning of hand movements (via the sensors).' Gonatillak states that their work is the result of combining technology and musical understanding, resulting in the Kurv guitar. He believes that what can establish Kurv as a reliable tool in the music arena is the computational power available in smartphones, which can act like an advanced engine in mixing various types of music. The small size of this tool could be another factor for its success. He adds, 'This guitar is very portable. If musicians want to create something while on the move, they just need to put on their headphones... This guitar is for both those who have never played anything in their lives and for professionals who want to add a new tool to what they already have.' Gonatillak adds that those who have spent years learning how to play the guitar might see this guitar as a shortcut and may not like it, but beginners can quickly become proficient at playing the guitar. The Kurv company, which has launched an online campaign to raise funds for the development of its guitar, is also looking to provide software that empowers users to create new musical instruments.