Meet the Roli Airwave: Your AI Piano Teacher and Digital Theremin in One

Roli, known for its innovative and portable digital pianos and keyboard instruments, has introduced an exciting new device designed to teach aspiring pianists how to play music while also providing experienced musicians with a novel way to incorporate filters and effects into their performances through hand gestures.

The Roli Airwave, standing at 14.5 inches tall, features a camera mounted on top that faces downward. This camera is engineered to track the finger movements of a player as they move across a keyboard placed at the base of the stand. The captured movements are transmitted in real-time to a tablet displayed on the easel-like Airwave. These visuals serve as a helpful teaching aid, illustrating which fingers should press which keys and offering tips to enhance song performance. Notably, the Airwave employs machine intelligence and computer vision to accurately monitor the player’s hand positioning and provide guidance.

The system is priced at $299 and is expected to begin shipping in February 2025. To utilize it, a Roli keyboard (priced between $249 and $1,399) is also required. Additionally, for teaching purposes, an iPad or another tablet is necessary to provide the visual feedback on the stand.

Roli is recognized for its flagship product, the Seaboard. This unique keyboard controller features soft, pliable keys that enable players to modify effects like pitch and timbre by sliding their fingers across the keys or applying varying pressure. The Seaboard gained substantial attention when it was showcased by Ryan Gosling in a memorable scene in the film La La Land.

The Airwave must be connected to a tablet via USB-C, and there are applications available for both Android and Apple devices. Currently, it supports only the iPad 5 and Samsung Galaxy Tabs S1 or newer, with no compatibility for phones at this time. The app presents a digital visualization of the keys along with a faint outline of your hands hovering above them. If you subscribe to Roli Learn, a $15-per-month music education subscription service, the app utilizes the view from the Airwave’s camera to assist you in your playing. The system monitors specific hand movements, guiding you on which finger to place on which key while you practice a song. It also possesses spatial awareness and can remind you to maintain proper posture—much like a real music instructor.

“Essentially, 100 percent of your practice time will now be spent practicing correctly,” states Roli’s CEO, Roland Lamb. “You will be cultivating good habits throughout your learning process.”

The Airwave builds upon the technology-driven teaching strategies that Roli has been developing for several years. The company also produces the Piano M (previously known as Lumi Keys), designed for music learners and integrated with the Roli Learn platform to facilitate learning. The Piano M features keys that illuminate in sync with a song, indicating which key to press. However, this method of simply being directed to press specific keys did not yield a high success rate in users completing their lessons.

“I encountered challenges with Lumi,” Lamb explains. “While it’s an effective learning tool, we discovered that users weren’t making sufficient progress.”

Lamb imagines the Airwave as a more direct method that engages the player’s hands right in the lesson.

This wouldn’t be a device launched in 2024 if it didn’t come packed with a lot of AI. In addition to the AI-driven computer vision of the Airwave’s camera, the Roli Learn platform is being enhanced with Open AI’s ChatGPT chatbot. This feature will enable piano learners to use their voice to control their experience, interact with the lessons, and pose questions. By pushing a button on the keyboard, users can issue a voice command to load the next song, or inquire about concepts like the difference between a scale and a chord. For example, you can ask which notes make up a C minor chord, and the app will visually present this information. Moreover, you can delve into more complex questions such as, “What is a Lydian scale?” or “Who wrote ‘Hotel California’?” While the accuracy of the responses may fluctuate, the answers will generally reflect what you can expect from chatbots these days.

While it may not surpass having a music teacher present to address your inquiries, it’s probably faster than searching for the right YouTube tutorial when you’re practicing alone.

“Consider this,” Lamb notes, “people have been playing piano for about 250 years. Hundreds of millions of individuals dedicating countless hours. Essentially, it’s a rather inefficient process.”

A great teacher does more than just answer questions; they demonstrate how to play a piece correctly and pay attention to your hand and body positioning. However, music lessons can come with a hefty price tag, and aligning the schedules of teachers and students can be quite tricky. Lamb aims for the Airwave to bridge the gap between traditional lessons, allowing students to learn independently at their convenience, with the assistance of an innovative AI device.

“The instrument itself lacks intelligence,” Lamb explains. “It doesn’t know your actions and cannot offer feedback. If we enhance that fundamental capability, learners will benefit from a faster and deeper understanding.”

In addition to serving as a tutoring aid, Roli is marketing the Airwave as a sophisticated tool for more experienced users in the realm of music production.

I had the opportunity to sit with Lamb as he showcased a demonstration of the Airwave’s additional functionalities. His hands moved above the keyboard in a manner reminiscent of someone playing a theremin, a unique instrument that is played by altering the invisible electromagnetic fields around two antennas. The Airwave operates in a similar fashion. Utilizing infrared cameras to monitor finger movements, various hand positions can influence pitch, filter frequencies, and modulate oscillators along with other effects. Roli claims that the Airwave can track actions such as raising, gliding, and tilting hands and fingers to adjust the selected parameters. The company also mentions that more movements—including finer tracking—will be integrated in the future.

This combination of an AI-driven educational tool alongside a professional instrument exemplifies a trend where companies strive to create inclusive experiences for users. As businesses increasingly integrate generative AI features into their offerings, it often seems like every service is catering to everyone simultaneously. Lamb emphasizes the importance of preserving human involvement in the music creation journey, even as AI simplifies the process by allowing artists to request specific sounds like an “808 beat” with ease. He expresses a desire for the timeless joy of making music to endure and believes that devices like the Airwave can empower individuals to reach a level of musical expertise that may have previously been out of reach.

“On one side, there are those who say, ‘Just create the music for me.’ Then you have others who are against technology altogether,” Lamb notes. “Our perspective is somewhere in between. We believe that technology can serve as a tool to enhance our humanity, providing richer experiences in activities such as making music.”

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