Learning to play piano is a hard slog, and many people – myself included – tend to start well, and then lose momentum before giving up entirely. Roli is hoping to keeping students engaged with a gesture-tracking AI teacher called the Airwave.
"Music learning and playing have been far too difficult for too long: intimidating, expensive, and one-size-fits-all," said Roli's CEO, Roland Lamb. "At Roli, we are on a mission to free the music, making it possible for anyone to learn the language of music with new digital tools that open up new possibilities of human expression. With recent advances in computer vision and AI, we are finally able to innovate beyond the keys, and can now bring this human-centric technology to music learners and creators alike."
At first glance, the Airwave device looks like a high-end music stand. It's fashioned from aluminum, has USB-C ports in the base along with slots for supporting an angled view of a tablet, a 3.5-mm headphone jack and a pedal input. There's also a magnetic USB port for use with a compatible Roli keyboard, such as the Piano M (formerly Lumi Keys) or the Seaboard series. It's powered by an included 60-W adapter.
At the top of the stand are stereo infrared cameras that are paired with Roli's new Vision technology to enable real-time capture of the 27 joints in each hand for precise tracking of movements and gestures. The setup also works with Roli's new Piano AI technology, so as well as "seeing" hands and fingers, the system can respond to natural voice interactions, offer real-time assistance and so on.
For learners, that means the AI teacher can evaluate every keystroke and tailor lessons to the individual. The learning system can help you adopt good posture, ensure you're using the right fingers to play the right notes, improve accuracy and timing, and build playing dynamics.
Follow-me lessons are broken down into bite-sized chunks that you can ace before moving onto the next segment. Your digital coach is available whenever you are, keeps track of your progress, provides feedback to motivate and inspire, and helps builds great technique.
Roli has already curated a song library of more than a thousand hits so far, allowing users to dive into learning firm favorites or explore new directions. There are interactive games to teach notes, melodies and chords in an entertaining way. The learning app also caters for experimentation or musical discovery in the freeplay zone.
However, to unlock everything that the app has to offer, you'll need to stump up a monthly fee of $8.33 in addition to the cost of the Airwave and your Roli Piano M. That's still cheaper than a human piano teacher, but this will need to be factored into the overall cost. The app is compatible with modern tablets running iPadOS 17/Android 10 or a more recent operating platform.
The Airwave also "unlocks a whole new world of intuitive musical expression" for those who have already put in the work and can tickle the ivories with the best of them.
"With Roli, musicians can explore new forms of sound and expression,” enthused musician and producer, Marco Parisi. "Airwave is a game-changer for creating music and in the way we perform. Every movement and gesture create a new sound unique to them, which will make music much more expressive, and could even lead to new genres of music.”
By way of example, a player could use hand gestures in the space above a Roli instrument to dial in modulation and/or effects. The setup comes with a bunch of sonic presets to flex and slide the sounds of piano, strings, wind instruments or synths.
The IR cameras can also transform the captured gestures into MIDI Polyphonic Expression for "gesture-controlled Spatial Expression, allowing musicians to easily play complex and multi-layered sounds." This means that as well as knocking out a catchy tune on the keys, the system can be set to bring in backing instruments with a wave of the hand or supply atmospheric synthesized accompaniment. If you want to visualize "the impact of your gestures," the Airwave system can furnish you with 3D trails onscreen.
The Airwave is up for pre-order now for US$299, or can be had with a 24-key Piano M with colored key illumination for $499, or a double-M bundle for $699. Shipping is expected to start from March 2025. The video below has more.
