EyeHarp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The EyeHarp is an electronic musical instrument controlled by the player's eye or head movements.[1][2][3][4] It combines eye tracking hardware and specially designed software, which has one component for defining chords and arpeggios, and another to change those definitions and play melodies.[2] People with severely impaired motor function can use this instrument to play music or as an aid to learning or composition.[5][6]

History[edit]

The idea for the EyeHarp was born in 2010 when a friend of musician and computer scientist Zacharias Vamvakousis was involved in a serious motorcycle accident which left him quadriplegic.[7] Vamvakousis noticed a distinct lack of accessible musical instruments for people with disabilities, so began designing the EyeHarp to create opportunities for people with physical disabilities to make music. The development of the EyeHarp started in 2011 in Barcelona under the auspices of Pompeu Fabra University.


In 2019, Vamvakousis founded the EyeHarp association, a non-profit organisation which works to give people with disabilities access to cheap musical education and assistive technology.

See also[edit]

Disability in the arts

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Eyeharp - MTG - Music Technology Group (UPF)". www.upf.edu.
  2. ^ a b Vamvakousis, Zacharias; Ramirez, Rafael (11 January 2016). "The EyeHarp: A Gaze-Controlled Digital Musical Instrument". Frontiers in Psychology. 7: 906. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00906. PMC 4915213. PMID 27445885.
  3. ^ "What is EyeHarp". eyeharp.org.
  4. ^ "Eyeharp". sociality.gr.
  5. ^ Hagen, Marc (24 July 2020). "EyeHarp - Play Music Without Barriers". Archived from the original on 4 August 2020.
  6. ^ Hagen, Marc (24 July 2020). "EyeHarp – Play Music Without Barriers". Closing The Gap. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  7. ^ "The game-changing instruments disabled musicians can play using just their eyes". Classic FM. Retrieved 6 January 2023.

External links[edit]