Modified Virtual Air Guitar: A Concept Realized using Image Processing Techniques

Even amidst the hustle and bustle of busy lives, numerous people dream of playing a musical instrument. Unfortunately, many may never get a chance to touch one. But this doesn’t stop them from ‘air drumming’ or playing ‘air guitar’ passionately while listening to their favorite tunes. To encourage this passion for music, especially in the absence of a real instrument, we introduce to you the Virtual Air Guitar. This application allows one to showcase their guitar skills, regardless of their knowledge of playing a real guitar. It uses color tracking to detect inputs and a sound module incorporating the Karplus Strong algorithm to generate musical notes as an output. As a result, a simple webcam and brightly colored gloves are required to use the application. The application detects each gloved hand as a separate point and renders a horizontal line passing through the left point (representing a simple guitar). The line is divided into four differently colored segments, representing four different frequencies (or 'notes' separated by ‘frets’ in guitar lingo). These notes are used in the intro of the classic rock song, Smoke on the Water. When the point on the right (representing the right glove) crosses a particular colored segment, a corresponding sound (note) which has been assigned to that segment, will be generated. This application has enormous potential as a base for interactive guitar games, teaching music, and of course, to compose guitar based songs.