Famed musician and composer Brian Eno is giving the air guitar and drumming crowd the means to make music from their gesturing through the Microsoft HoloLens.
"Bloom: Open Space," an interactive audio-visual exhibit taking place this week in Amsterdam, gives attendees the opportunity to compose melodies and musical patterns by interacting with holograms via hand gestures.
The experience is available via the Bloom app for HoloLens, a collaboration between Eno and collaborator Peter Chilvers, a musician and software designer. (There's also an iOS version of the Bloom app.)
"I have always been interested by the possibilities that new technologies offer, particularly that subset which falls under the heading 'things nobody ever thought of doing before,'" said Eno in blog post regarding the event. "This offer was an opportunity to explore the possibilities of Bloom further, and augmented reality further."
The installation is open daily from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Feb. 25 at The Transformatorhuis (Trafo House) in Amsterdam. Admission is about $13, plus applicable fees, for attendees 13 years old and up.
Augmented reality music experiences could end up being the killer app for the first generation of consumer-focused head-mounted displays.
We know that Magic Leap already has plans of its own in this regard via its collaboration with Sigur Rós. That experience enables users to interact with composed music.
With Eno's app, the ability for the untrained music fan to create their own music opens up a whole new category for developers to consider. Let's face it, not everyone can pick up a guitar and play "Smoke on the Water" without a few lessons first. But headsets like the HoloLens could facilitate expression through familiar actions within a digital medium rather than with physical instruments.
To think, it won't be long before the reality-bending musical performance (embedded below) from Legion, Marvel's acclaimed TV series, could be a commonplace exercise within the next five years.
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