AirJamz is a wristband that turns air guitar into wear guitar
It's like karaoke for frustrated guitarists.
The tagline reads: "AirJamz is the wearable Air Guitar that you have to see to believe." To be fair, you probably can believe it, especially if you're familiar with Zivix. The company is best known for Jamstik, a small wireless guitar that helps you learn to shred, or play more than just axe-sounds, with your iPhone and iPad. AirJamz is for those that want to forego the whole playing part altogether, and just pretend they're slaying. Imagine Guitar Hero boiled down into a $50 wristband with an accelerometer and an app that "plays" guitar if you strum along in time and you've basically got it. We got to see it in action at SXSW, demoed by some of the world's finest fictional fretboard aficionados.
The technology is about as simple as it is to use. The cuff looks a lot like a watch or fitness tracker, with a single button on it. Pair AirJamz with your iOS or Android device, and load up the companion app, and you're basically good to go. Choose a song from the list on offer (no details on how many, or what songs, just yet), and strum along in time to keep the guitar part playing. You can also sound use AirJamz to trigger sound effects, and multiple users can (air) jam along together, so you can create your very own (air) band.
As for the demo, well it made the point of it pretty clear. Four air guitar "experts" took turns to rock out in front of the well-oiled SXSW audience, giving it everything they had. Wrists shaking up and down at an intense rate, complete with exaggerated rock-star posturing. It's basically karaoke for metal-loving beer fans. It's a little goofy, sure, but clearly just a bit of fun. The $50 price tag is low enough to make this the ideal novelty gift for that failed guitarist in your life, but you can pick it up on Kickstarter on March 29th and save yourself a little (not Johnny) cash.
Zivix Air Guitar Demo at SXSW Interactive 2016
Zivix Air Guitar Demo at #SXSW (The Launchpad from Amazon.com)
Posted by Engadget on Sunday, March 13, 2016