- Rockin’ Patent: US Patent No. 9,224,377
- Filed: 9 November 2012
- In the name of: Fictitious Capital Limited
- Title: Computerized Percussion Instrument
- What’s claimed: “A musical instrument comprising an imager arranged to provide a series of two dimensional images of an operator of the musical instrument; a processor, coupled to the imager to receive the images, the processor configured to: store an indication of a size and/or position of a first marker in a first selected image of the series of two dimensional images; store an indication of a size and/or position of a second marker in the first selected image of the series of two dimensional images; use the stored indication of the size and/or position of the first marker and the stored indication of the size and/or position of the second marker in the first selected image of the series of two dimensional images to distinguish between the first marker and the second marker in a second selected image of the series of two dimensional images independent of the proximity of the first marker relative to the second marker based on at least: the size and/or position of the first marker and the size and/or position of the second marker in the second selected image of the series of two dimensional images, and the size and/or position of the first marker and the size and/or position of the second marker in at least one preceding image of the series of two dimensional images that was captured before the first selected image of the series of two dimensional images and the second selected image of the series of two dimensional images; and trigger an audio output signal based on at least one of: the size and/or position of the first marker, the size and/or position of the second marker, movements of the first marker, and movements of the second marker.”
- Why this patent rocks: This patent appears to involve the MIDI air-drumming instrument ‘Aerodrums’ that enables users to drum without a drum set. The device has drum sticks with reflective balls at the tip and foot pieces with reflective material. A lamp with a lens shines onto the reflective material while a high-speed motion-capture camera captures the movement of reflections made by the lamp from the reflections off the material on the sticks and foot markers. Aerodrums claims to enable musicians to express themselves ‘while solving the problems of portability, space and noise associated with regular drum sets’. The founders of Aerodrums appeared on Dragons Den in 2016. If you’re curious to learn more, see here for more information and a video of Aerodrums in action.
If you’re a patent-savvy music tech business looking for patent help, get in touch with Russell IP here!
The information above is for general interest and information only and does not constitute legal advice.
