

Mi.Mu Glove for Music - aidos
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mimu/mimu-glove-for-music?ref=card

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msy
(backer) It's worth taking a look at the comparison of existing data gloves on
the website - [http://theglovesproject.com/data-gloves-
overview/](http://theglovesproject.com/data-gloves-overview/) . These aren't
the first to try and do this by any means but they are as far as I can see by
far the most considered and refined for their purpose, think of it as the
iPhone of data gloves.

The combination of flexibility, comfort, precision, being totally wireless & a
an impressive sensor combination (individual finger flex in both directions +
hand accelerometer & gyro) combined with in-glove haptic feedback mean there's
truly incredible potential here for creating entirely new ways of interacting
with software.

Like the iPhone, or the iPad, or the iPod it's not that the technology itself
is revolutionary or unique but it's the way that the technology has been used
to create an amazing product that makes this to me as if not more exciting
than things like the Oculus Rift.

------
Ryanmf
This isn't exactly a revolutionary concept. Onyx Ashanti[0][1][2] has built an
entire performance around it (literally, the the whole system is custom
built). And on a sort of parallel track, nerds like Herrmutt Lobby and DZA
have done some really remarkable things pushing the boundaries of what can be
done with off the shelf MIDI gear[3] as well as with game controllers[4].

Perhaps Mi.Mu will be the best execution of a MIDI/OSC glove to date—it will
probably have to be if it's going to make it on stage with performers like
Imogen Heap and Tim Exile.

I will say, sometimes an encoder is exactly what you need. Other times what
you need is a long throw fader (to say nothing of the very particular
engineering of crossfaders for scratch DJs). I hope designers and engineers
continue to experiment in this space, but not every conventional interface
needs 'disrupting', and they certainly don't all need to be made wireless. I
always feel a bit annoyed when these developments are framed as a breaking
down of walls between performer and audience, a paradigm shift away from the
dark ages of electronic musicians hunched over banks of knobs and 'checking
their email'.

It's a cliché, and I'm not even sure it maps to reality all that well. I'm
fairly certain Miles Davis spent the majority of his time on stage looking at
piano keys. And if not there, at his collaborators. Maybe occasionally a
glance towards the audience. Maybe. Stevie Wonder never looked at anybody. It
never mattered, because that was never the point.

[0][http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/11/way-out-from-behind-
th...](http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/11/way-out-from-behind-the-laptop-
onyx-ashantis-beatjazz-augmented-body-keeps-mutating/)

[1][http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/10/open-source-music-
berl...](http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/10/open-source-music-berlin-
retune/)

[2][http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/04/fractals-bots-nodes-
an...](http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/04/fractals-bots-nodes-and-
patternists-onyx-ashantis-cyborg-music-meets-the-ensemble-guest-post/)

[3][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zN7Pjwjcp0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zN7Pjwjcp0)

[4][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQaMW_5oxyg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQaMW_5oxyg)

~~~
Ryanmf
Miles looked down the business end of a trumpet, and I'm an idiot.

------
hauget
Was wondering when I'd see this here. Can't imagine what someone like Trent
Reznor would do with it. Also, this would be great for VR!

Price-wise, I think the tech is a tad out of reach for most people right now.
Something cheaper like Thalmic's Myo might be within most people's reach
though. One dev even has a prototype of MIDI support for the Myo already:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ipXPWX0cg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ipXPWX0cg)

For reference, Imogen's gloves have been in development for quite a while now:
[http://theglovesproject.com/about-the-
project](http://theglovesproject.com/about-the-project)

~~~
daeken
> Price-wise, I think the tech is a tad out of reach for most people right
> now.

That's my thought, too. I'm no stranger to buying expensive music gear just to
see what I can get out of it, but £2400 (about $4000) is a huge chunk of
change. That'd get you Ableton Push, a nice digital piano, a decent interface,
and another mid-range instrument. Big investment for something speculative.

If the prebuilt version was half the price, I'd back it in a heartbeat, but as
it stands, I can't justify the cost.

------
allard
see [http://www.sonami.net/works/ladys-
glove/](http://www.sonami.net/works/ladys-glove/) too

------
aidos
I'm mostly impressed with Imogen's (and all the others involved) approach:

 _" It's really exciting to see what people might do with hacking them. The
software is going to be open source, so is the hardware."_

------
RankingMember
Even with the feedback vest, this seems like a something that'd be difficult
to use for non-abstract musical compositions.

~~~
squidsoup
I would imagine something like this could be used to good effect in a
contemporary dance performance.

~~~
catshirt
i'll bet you can customize the hell out of it and use it for pretty much any
type of performance. new instruments (electric guitar, computer, etc) enable
new types of music but are usually not restricted to that type.

i don't see why this controller couldn't be just as suitable to play a jazz
number on as a piano. it outputs to MIDI so you source a piano sound and teach
motions to behave in different ways (chords, melodies, tempos, arpeggiations,
crescendos etc).

though i'd have to imagine getting consistent MIDI signal from the Emotiv
neuroheadset would be the end game :)

