A Gesture Detection with Guitar Pickup and Earphones

We have introduced a new gesture-detection technique that utilizes the interference of earphones on a magnetic pickup. This technique is advantageous because it can be easily applied to almost any type of electric guitar without cracking it, and it can be used as a gesture-based effect control system. This system utilizes a theoretically audible, but practically inaudible range (TAPIR) acoustic signal, which can rarely be perceived by most people, to trace the guitar player’s hand motion. The frequency band of a TAPIR signal can be played on typical transducers such as headphones and speakers. Therefore, this system is also advantageous in that it can be built using an earphone as a signal transmitter, an electric guitar as a receiver, and a PC as a sound processor. From the transmitter attached on the player’s picking hand, the TAPIR signal is transmitted to the magnetic pickup installed on the electric guitar. The player’s gestures are captured by analyzing the Doppler shift of the original signal, and the processor converts this Doppler shift value into a delay time. By using this system, players can control the effector by using their own guitar and earphone.