Air Guitar Shirt for the Talentless

[Carol Page <cpagecomm@xxxxxxxxx>]

Rock 'n' roll star guaranteed: No strings attached
Monday, 13 November  2006 

Reporter: Nicholas Kittel 

 
Dr. Richard Helmer demonstrates the Wearable
Instrument Shirt (image courtesy of the CSIRO). 
 
Have you ever dreamt of a career as a rock 'n' roll
star, but failed because of lack of talent? 

Reality television programs would suggest that
revelling in your fifteen-minutes of fame is not all
that hard, but for many it still remains elusive...
that is until now.

Dr. Richard Helmer, a CSIRO engineer, is currently in
the process of making fame available to everyone and
anyone who has ever dreamt of a career as a rock 'n'
roll legend.

Dr. Richard and his team have recently put the
finishing touches on the prototype of their 'Wearable
Instrument Shirt' (WIS), which enables its wearer to
play an 'air guitar', allowing anyone to play the
guitar like Jimmy Page or Robert Plant, but without
having to go through the bother of years of practice.

Dr. Helmer said that wearers of the WIS could play it
by simply moving one arm to pick chords and the other
to strum the imaginary instrument's strings. 

"It's an easy-to-use, virtual instrument that allows
real-time music making - even by players without
significant musical or computing skills. It allows you
to jump around and the sound generated is just like an
original mp3," he said.

It's a matter of being in time with the music, but you
don't need to understand it 
So if you love the idea of being a rock star but have
no musical ability, apart from looking the part, then
the air guitar shirt may be right up your alley... Dr.
Richard says the only prerequisite to be able to play
the shirt is a sense of timing.

"It's a matter of being in time with the music, but
you don't need to understand it... you don't need to
know how to do the finger pattern or whatever for the
chord."

Dr. Richard is a bit of music tragic and confessed
that the idea for the shirt stemmed more from wanting
to share his passion with those who can't play an
instrument rather than any form of scientific
endeavour. But the question remains... with the help
of the shirt; does Dr Richard fancy himself as the
next Santana or Jimmy Hendrix?

"Maybe Billy Duffy from (rock and roll band) The
Cult... I play guitar and I needed to have some
knowledge of music to make this work, so that we could
choose the chords and that because we are trying to
pitch it at a level where someone who's turned a
computer on before can use the software and then
someone who knows how to pretend to play the guitar
can play it."

I see an evolution... there's some critical
applications 
So what are the implications of the air guitar shirt?
Dr. Helmer sees a future beyond simply making music,
especially in the area of physiotherapy and
rehabilitation. 

"I see an evolution... there's some critical
applications, but I think people need to get used to
it in a fun sense first, before we take it too far so
that's why we've done this."

Dr. Richard said that we could be seeing people
practising their stage moves and air guitar solos at
the bus stop or train station as soon as tomorrow,
although he says they'll probably be doing it without
any sound as the WIS is still, very much, in the
prototype stage. 



There are four means of refuge from the miseries of life: music, cats, humor, 
and chocolate.

-Albert Schweitzer


 
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