Portable Electronic Musical System with Single-Hand Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wearable musical instruments and smartphone apps may not meet the needs of users seeking a portable, easy-to-play, and inexpensive electronic musical instrument, as they can be challenging to use with one hand and require the expense of a smartphone for functionality, especially when playing with two hands.
Innovation Solution
A portable electronic musical system featuring hand pads with touch-sensitive elements, a selectively positionable support mechanism, and a sound-producing subsystem, allowing single-handed operation and integration with a MIDI controller for producing musical output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a wearable musical instrument is designed for single-handed operation, then portability and ease of operation are improved, but playing capability with two hands deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The musical instrument is divided into two separate hand pads, each designed to be operated by one hand. This segmentation allows each pad to be optimized for single-handed use while collectively providing two-handed playing capability. Each pad can be independently positioned and operated, resolving the contradiction between ease of single-handed operation and two-handed versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces spatial positioning freedom by allowing the hand pads to be selectively positioned at different locations. This dimensional flexibility enables users to arrange the pads according to their playing needs, whether for single-handed portability or two-handed performance, thus resolving the contradiction through spatial adaptation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a smartphone is used to provide musical instrument functionality, then versatility is improved, but cost deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential musical instrument functionality from the smartphone platform and implements it directly in the hand pad hardware. By taking out the core functionality (touch-sensitive elements, sound production) and embedding it in dedicated hardware, the system eliminates the need for an expensive smartphone while maintaining musical instrument capabilities, thus resolving the cost-versatility contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The hand pads are designed as standalone, affordable hardware devices that provide dedicated musical instrument functionality without requiring expensive smartphones. This approach uses simpler, more cost-effective hardware components to achieve the desired functionality, resolving the contradiction between versatility and cost.
3Weight of moving object
If conventional keyboard instruments are made portable, then portability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The conventional keyboard is segmented into two separate hand pads that can be independently held and operated. This segmentation reduces the size and weight of each individual component, improving portability, while maintaining the full keyboard functionality through coordinated operation of both pads, thus resolving the contradiction between portability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The hand pads are designed with flexible positioning capabilities, allowing users to dynamically adjust their position and orientation during operation. This dynamic adaptability compensates for the reduced size, maintaining ease of operation despite the portable form factor, thus resolving the contradiction between portability and playing ease.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables easy, single-handed musical performance without the need for a smartphone, providing a cost-effective and versatile portable electronic musical instrument with adjustable support for comfortable use.
Implementation Method 1
information corresponding with a musical note is produced when a selected amount of pressure is applied to one of the plurality of touch sensitive elements
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a portable electronic musical system including a pad with a plurality of touch sensitive elements, usable with a single hand. Information produced as a result of pressure being applied to one of the plurality of touch sensitive elements on the pad is captured with an electronic subsystem. The captured information is communicated to a sound producing subsystem for producing musical output. A selectively positionable support mechanism is operatively connectable to the pad, so that when at least part of the support mechanism is positioned under at least part of the single hand, all of the pad, the positionable support mechanism and the single hand are movable in unison.