Finally, a banana piano
This is a Marketplace.org Reader
Finally. Thanks to Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, a couple smarties at MIT, this is now a reality. The BBC reports: They have developed a kit called MakeyMakey, that can turn fruit, animals and even humans into keyboards.” Sure, they may be calling this system “MakeyMakey,” but we all know the banana version should be called the “Bananano.”
The MakeyMakey is really just a simple circuit board that has cables running to objects, then back to a computer via USB. And while the inventors have connected it to everything from broccoli to cat paws, they say there’s a bigger purpose. Again from the BBC:
… dozens of people had contacted them, wanting to customise the Makey board for people who cannot use a conventional keyboard.
“A father is currently turning it into a computer interface for his son who is suffering from cerebral palsy. We call this Hackcess.”
So I’ve been humbled. This thing is can be way more than just a bananano… but still, wouldn’t you like to hear it play chopsticks at least once?