The Music Gear Expo, part of the 23rd South by Southwest or SXSW 2016 Music Film Interactive festival, featured a lot of tech companies showing off their latest gears and gadgets. A few truly unique gadgets were featured for the first time during the event.
To start off, the Remidi T8, dubbed the first wearable music instrument, looks and feels like an ordinary glove. However, the T8 can offer limitless notes and sounds with its eight pressure sensors. It has one for each finger and three in the palm area, each offering different notes. Then, when a note has already been played, the motion sensor contained in the bracelet, attached to the wearable, can give an added twist to the note.
An endless keyboard is also possible with the new T8. Wearers can immediately shift from a C scale to an F scale by just touching the controller, incorporated into the bracelet.
The Remidi T8 is being offered for pre-order for US$349.99 for a single glove and US$699.99 for two gloves. It will then be shipped by September.
Meanwhile, Sony's N Neckband is the future of headbands. Instead of "on the head," it will be "around the neck." The N Neckband is still a prototype so it is still not available in the market. Basically, it is connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth and it directs the audio upwards, which can only be heard by the wearer. It is also designed not to eliminate any background noise, which puts the wearer fully aware of his or her surroundings. A specially designed earpiece is also available, still providing ambient noise to its user.
Aside from that, the N Neckband can be controlled via voice commands, which totally makes it hands-free. It can pause and skip the music track, and it can give weather information and GPS functionality. The Verge added that it contains a camera as well.
Last, but not the least, Doppler Labs' Here Active Listening ear buds, winner of "Best of Show" at the recently concluded SXSW 2016, offer a unique audio experience never heard before. As Macworld reported, the product is an augmented sound concert. The ear buds themselves contain a microphone and a speaker. An iOS or Android device will also come in handy where the application needs to be loaded. The microphone picks up the sound and plays it back through the built-in speakers, but it takes into consideration the settings that its user has set. The settings included in the app are echo, reverb, bass boost and change of frequency. It also offers effects for environment, like a small studio or a large concert hall.
There is no release date for the Here Active Listening ear buds yet.
