A Wearable Musical Device By:

Ashley Halko • Charlie Greco • Connor Marsh • Daniel Giganti Dima

David Nisula • Hailey Cassidy • Josh Puerzer

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This project was designed and developed as part of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering's ENGR 0716 The Art of Making: An Introduction to Hands-On System Design and Engineering.

New movie lol

What is GarageHand?

GarageHand is a set of portable gloves that allow you to play the piano on any surface!

Each finger (pointer through pinky) corresponds to a note on the piano. The thumbs are used to play accidentals: playing a note while the thumb is down plays the note sharped, giving you an entire octave at your fingertips!

GarageHand can also swap between major and minor scales with a designated switch located on the outer wrist.

Who is GarageHand For?

Aspiring learners who want to express themselves through music but are overwhelmed by learning on a traditional instrument
People who can't afford expensive music equipment
Musicians who don't have access to a piano but still want to practice
Those who want to practice anywhere on-the-go

A Novel User-Interface

The GarageHand system is unique in that any surface can be turned into a pop-up piano through the lightweight, portable design of the gloves. GarageHand can be used on nearly any type of surface: wood, cement, metal, or even a user's own palms (if your fingers are flexible enough!).

How Does It Work?

GarageHand works by taking continuous readings from each of the force-sensing resistors (FSRs). Upon receiving a signal above a threshold, GarageHand plays a note corresponding to the scale degree of the FSR it read from.

The left pinkie plays the first scale degree, the right plays the eighth, and likewise for each finger in between. The thumbs are unique: holding down a thumb sets the respective hand to "accidental mode," raising any signal received by a half-step (EX: C → C#).

Once the CPB has the correct note, the signal is sent to the external speaker, which plays the sound.