Future Friday: Become a Rock Star with the Help of Smart Glasses
Be a guitar hero with augmented reality (AR)
Back in 2005, a popular video game franchise got millennials interested in rock music. Using plastic guitars with five buttons, Guitar Hero had gamers strumming away to classics by artists their parents worshipped.
Could Smart Glasses turn real guitars into video game controllers?
READ: How Smart Glasses could become a journalist’s favorite companion
The concept isn’t new. Smartphone apps like Fender Play and Yousician serve as digital teachers, offering step-by-step tutorials. Just like a video game, students can follow along on the screen to nail that solo.
While the process is revolutionary, it’s not seamless. Like a song sheet, learners must constantly shift attention between instrument and screen.
Like playing Guitar Hero in real life, Smart Glasses could map songs on a user’s guitar.
Credit: Dribbble
Why Smart Glasses could birth the next Jimi Hendrix
What if we made that screen hands-free? What if we made it transparent, filtering the digital and real worlds?
How interactive music services would benefit from AR:
- See and strum: Just like Guitar Hero, digital instructions could be overlaid on a guitar’s fretboard. Just as music services provide a score based on timing and accuracy, learning a song could be gamified. Who among your friends is best at matching their fingers to highlighted strings at the right time?
- Karaoke, 2.0: For beginner and advanced singers, lyrics could be broadcast in the corner of their eye. A sing-a-long only the wearer can see, songbirds would never forget a word. In training, a singer’s pitch could be graded, helping them hit even the highest note.
- Augmented performances: Those futuristic specs could help musicians conquer their stage fright. Amateurs and pros could sync Smart Glasses with their instruments, providing visual guidelines for any song. Help could be customized, as first-timers could map every finger placement while veterans could simply broadcast notes in the corner of their eye.
- Talent...found: Some apps let users upload songs, sharing creations with a global community of musicians. Songs could be rated, leading to record deals for phenoms. Online competition could help producers find the world’s best performers, as every song could be gamified. An algorithm could expose the next Jimmy Page.
- No peeking: To ensure musicians don’t rely on AR assistants, Smart Glasses could remove visual help. Instead, the software would merely assess a learner’s memory. Like a bird leaving the nest, AR could act as an educational safety net - allowing students to one day take flight. Free Bird, anyone?
- Next-gen teaching: COVID-19 made remote music lessons common. It also made the world acquainted with learning from home. It wouldn’t be far fetched to equip both teacher and student with Smart Glasses to broadcast their first-person views to one another. Instructors could see exactly what their student sees. They could even highlight points on a fretboard, perfecting technique.
The Vuzix Blade overlays digital info on the real world. One day, they could make it easier to learn musical instruments.
Credit: ETCentric
The future of learning
Smart Glasses are expected to complement and then replace smartphones in the 2020s. Vuzix routinely uses the technology to make life easier in several industries, including:
Interactive music services are becoming more popular and Smart Glasses would improve the user experience. More importantly, AR could make it easier to learn any instrument.
Don’t be surprised if future Grammy winners owe their success to Smart Glasses.