Air guitar

06 : 06 : 2016 Yuri Suzuki : AR Music Kit : Generation I

London – Artist Yuri Suzuki has developed an app that enables children to create their own musical instruments.

  • The app is inspired by Suzuki’s memory of using random objects as instruments as a child
  • The open-source software is available from GitHub and Suzuki is inviting developers to contribute to the project
The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London
The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London
The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London
The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London The AR Music Kit by Yuri Suzuki, London

The AR Music Kit, which is part of the Android Experiments with Google project, enables users to create simple instruments using augmented reality (AR).

Users begin by printing off Post-it sized markers that the app recognises as different musical notes. When the user moves their hand over a marker, the action is detected by the phone’s camera and the app plays the corresponding note.

The app features guitar and piano effects and a Music Box option that enables users to line up the markers in a sequence to create melodies.

‘We actually developed a lot of different instruments with different interactions,’ says Suzuki. ‘I would like to develop more and expand the idea.’

The Big Picture

The AR Music Kit app taps into Generation I’s interest in DIY experiences that combine the digital and physical worlds. The Future of Parenting by children’s toy-maker Fischer-Price imagines how the future of playtime might look in 2025.

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