Music

RemoFinger puts control of virtual stomps at your feet

RemoFinger puts control of virtual stomps at your feet
The RemoFinger system can be used to activate onscreen stomps to alter a guitar's tone, add distortion or add some atmospheric echo
The RemoFinger system can be used to activate onscreen stomps to alter a guitar's tone, add distortion or add some atmospheric echo
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The RemoFinger can switch virtual stomps on or off in GarageBand, without having to take playing hands away from the guitar
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The RemoFinger can switch virtual stomps on or off in GarageBand, without having to take playing hands away from the guitar
A collection of some of the apps that the RemoFinger will work with, including AmpliTube, GarageBand and MusicStudio
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A collection of some of the apps that the RemoFinger will work with, including AmpliTube, GarageBand and MusicStudio
Four colored Touch Pointers are positioned above the parts of the smart device display where a user wants to click and held in place with suction pads
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Four colored Touch Pointers are positioned above the parts of the smart device display where a user wants to click and held in place with suction pads
The RemoFinger system can be used to activate onscreen stomps to alter a guitar's tone, add distortion or add some atmospheric echo
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The RemoFinger system can be used to activate onscreen stomps to alter a guitar's tone, add distortion or add some atmospheric echo
When a footswitch is pressed, the corresponding pointer or channel plays the role of virtual finger tip and clicks at the desired position onscreen
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When a footswitch is pressed, the corresponding pointer or channel plays the role of virtual finger tip and clicks at the desired position onscreen
The RemoFinger system allows musicians to activate tablet-based digital effects without taking playing hands away from a guitar
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The RemoFinger system allows musicians to activate tablet-based digital effects without taking playing hands away from a guitar
The system's console is wirelessly connected to a pedal board using Zigbee technology
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The system's console is wirelessly connected to a pedal board using Zigbee technology
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Instrument interfaces like IK Multimedia's iRig or Apogee's Jam opened the door to an almost infinite world of real-time digitized tone on mobile devices running apps like GarageBand and AmpliTube. But, frustratingly, selecting a virtual stomp on a tablet screen still involves taking a playing hand away from the guitar to tap the screen. South Korea's Wifo Corporation is currently crowdfunding the RemoFinger, a foot controller that sits on the floor and can wirelessly activate onscreen stomp switches via surrogate "finger tips" attached to the tablet display.

The RemoFinger system is made up of two main parts. Four colored Touch Pointers are positioned above the parts of the smart device display where a user wants to click and held in place with suction pads. The other ends of the 400 mm (16 in) long cables are plugged into a tablet holder/console. This is wirelessly connected to a pedal board using ZigBee technology. ZigBee is reported to require less juice to operate than Bluetooth and offers a wireless range of 15m (50 ft), while catering for faster switching.

When a footswitch is pressed, the corresponding pointer or channel plays the role of virtual finger tip and clicks at the desired position onscreen. LED indicators show which footswitches are active. The console and the footswitch unit are powered by two AAA-sized batteries in each unit.

When a footswitch is pressed, the corresponding pointer or channel plays the role of virtual finger tip and clicks at the desired position onscreen
When a footswitch is pressed, the corresponding pointer or channel plays the role of virtual finger tip and clicks at the desired position onscreen

As well as activating onscreen stomps to alter a guitar's tone, add distortion or add some atmospheric echo, the system can also select presets, stop or start recording, fire a pre-recorded backing track or loop at just the right moment, or turn the pages of a digitized score or lyric sheet.

The RemoFinger system has launched on Kickstarter for the move into production. It's currently confirmed as supporting all of Apple's iPads, iPhone and iPod touches, Samsung's Galaxy Tap A and the G2, G3 and G4 from LG, with plans to invade more Android space in the near future.

Rewards for early backers start at US$79, which is less than half the expected retail price of $159. The campaign runs until August 8, with the developers aiming for November delivery.

The pitch video can be seen below.

Sources: Wifo, Kickstarter

RemoFinger: Wireless Foot Controller for iPad Musicians

View gallery - 7 images
1 comment
1 comment
SciFi9000
this seems a bit.. silly to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to send a signal through the connection port to trigger the appropriate virtual pedal rather then create a 'virtual finger'?