One of my favorite things is watching cool upstart Tech companies develop exciting new products. I especially enjoy the crowd funding phase because it’s just a really cool new way to connect with the market and  hit the ground running.  Smart Instrument Control System, is one such upstart company. They will debut their “Smart Instrument Control System” in New York on Friday April 5th, 2013.

When I learned of the company I realized that the initial  technology would be demonstrated with guitars. I inquired if the tech was limited to guitarists or if beat makers and DJs would be able to use the product with their tools and instruments of choice as well. The answer,  “At the moment, we have Beta testers working on its capabilities on a variety of platforms, but among them we do have DJs. They are exploring the possibilities for making their shows more engaging.” The rep went on to say “one of the possibilities is in wearing the sensors and controlling beats and lights with their hand movements. I saw some video the other day, it’s actually really cool!” Sounds pretty cool to me.

As for the crowd funding portion of the product development,  the rep had this to say,  “We’re actually launching our Kickstarter to further test the eMotion system. Our campaign launches in a few weeks, and backers can opt in as Beta testers to help us really refine the commercial system.”

Stay tuned for more to come. For now find out more via the official press release below.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Think Guitar Hero: the guitarist is in the middle of his solo, and as it reaches its peak he swings his guitar into the air, triggering distortion and light effects.

Why, if Guitar Hero made its first appearance in 2005, can’t an actual guitarist do this on an actual guitar eight years later?

EMotion Technologies, LLC, will be at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival April 5 with its Smart Instrument Control System—a scalable tool that makes instruments smart.

The system consists of sensors that are placed on the instrument and a wireless hub that receives the sensors’ signals. The hub is about the length of a CD and about half as wide, and a few sensors fit in a pocket. Because each musician’s needs differ, there are several types of sensors so musicians can build and customize their eMotion system according to their needs.

The music industry has rapidly evolved in the last decades, but musical instruments themselves have not changed for hundreds of years. The wires, cables and pedals musicians have always used remain in use today.

EMotion Technologies’ Smart Instrument Control System is noninvasive and transferrable from one instrument to another. It allows a musician to wirelessly control the effects of both the instrument and the environment with his or her movements, eliminating the need for pedals and a choreographed backstage crew.

EMotion is the result of Dr. Chet Udell’s music composition thesis research at the University of Florida. Udell, frustrated by the lack of interactivity with musical instruments, began to research wireless interaction between the musician and the instrument. Today, he has a working prototype as well as a commercial model prepared for the Beta testing phase.

Udell created eMotion Technologies because he was frustrated by the lack of wireless performance tools for musicians, and set out to build his own smart instrument. Udell wants to make the Smart Instrument Control System available to all musicians—from the high school

garage band to Joshua Bell and Kirk Hammet. Additionally, for every 10 systems sold, eMotion Technologies will donate one to an elementary music program.

Udell, now the chief technology officer for eMotion Technologies, Chief Executive Officer Julian Miller and the rest of the eMotion team will be at the Electroacoustic Music Festival for the launch. The eMotion system is still pre-production and not yet ready for commercial launch, but it is projected to be available by the end of this year.

To further develop the system and get it into the hands of pioneers, eMotion Technologies will launch a Kickstarter campaign in mid-April.

 

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