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Sony's crowdfunded wrist sensor modulates instruments with gestures

DJ mixers, guitars and keyboards are fair game.

Sony

You can already find keyboards and other instruments that warp sounds based on your movement, but what if you could apply that to virtually any digital instrument? Sony might have a solution. It's crowdfunding a Motion Sonic wristband that warps the sounds of practically any instrument with a 3.5mm or USB audio interface. You can raise your hand to add delay to a DJ mix, roll to bend the pitch on a keyboard or shake to add a filter effect to your electric guitar.

You'll need an iOS or iPadOS device to host the requisite app (sorry, even Sony's Xperia phones won't work here), and you'll likely need a Lightning or USB-C adapter. The Bluetooth-based band lasts for up to six hours of jamming, or 2.5 hours if you turn on an LED to add a splash of color to your performance. You can also put the band on the back of your hand if its usual wrist position won't achieve the intended results.

The crowdfunding campaign lasts until June 28th, and the first bands should ship by March 2022 to American and Japanese backers if the effort is successful. You might want to act quickly if you like the concept. The Motion Sonic is available for a roughly $219 pledge to the first 400 supporters, but will climb to around $249 if you wait too long. Yes, that's a lot to spend on a motion sensor, but it might do the trick if you want to add a clever twist to your music — even when your hands aren't free.