Robotic piano glove

History

2025: Product Announcement

In mid-January 2025, experts from Sony Computer Science Laboratories and NeuroPiano Institute announced the development of a robotic glove that helps pianists improve their playing technique by overcoming the personal speed limit. The technology in the future can also find application in medicine - for the rehabilitation of patients.

Previous research suggests that most professional musicians reach a certain plateau in their playing abilities (that is, they cannot further increase the speed of the game), especially when using instruments that require high-speed dexterity, such as guitar and piano. The developed exoskeleton allows you to overcome these limitations through the so-called passive training of the hands.

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Фото: Shinichi Furuya

The device attaches to the top of the palm and attaches to the fingers, lifting and lowering them separately up to four times per second. Thus, piano playing can be imitated at different speeds and different styles. To test the glove, the researchers recruited 118 experienced pianists who had played since the age of 8. They were asked to rehearse a particular piece for two weeks until they reached a personal plateau. The pianists then underwent a 30-minute training session with an exoskeleton that moved the fingers of their right hand in various combinations.

It turned out that after using the glove, pianists were able to significantly improve the playing technique. Moreover, the musicians learned to move the fingers of both hands faster, although training was carried out only for the right. The researchers found changes in the motor cortex of the participants in the experiment. It has been established that the use of the exoskeleton leads to neuroplastic changes - this helps to improve the technique of playing the piano.^[1]

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