Let's face it: aside from the tired "put your hands in the air" schtick, modern DJing can be a pretty low-key affair. But a new app from Japan's Shikumi Design could put the energy back in the booth.
On Tuesday, Intel announced the winner of the Perceptual Computing Challenge—Shikumi, whose Kagura app won $100,000 from the chipmaker for its use of gestures that could be interpreted with a Microsoft Kinect-like camera attached to a PC. (Microsoft also gave Shikumi its own award for the app earlier this year.)
Kagura—which, like so many contest winners, appears to be a proof of concept—allows users to play a number of virtual instruments just by waving their hands. Placing a hand over a drum icon, for example, plays a beat, while a user could wiggle his or her virtual fingers to "play" a mandolin. The app appears to be fairly sophisticated, allowing users to control the tempo via gestures, for example, or record sound samples on the fly.
As the demonstration video below plays, your first thought might be: how is this any different than a turntable, keyboard, or touch screen? But as the music plays on, there's a glimpse of what this app could be: a fusion of dance and gestures, allowing the DJ to play pre-recorded samples or tracks, mix in a custom instrument or two, and do it in a way that's visually engaging.
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