“Wear it”—Wearable Robotic Musicians

Abstract

Recent developments in wearable technology can help people with disabilities regain their lost capabilities, merging their biological body with robotic enhancements. Myoelectric prosthetic hands, for example, allow amputees to perform basic daily-life activities by sensing and analyzing electric activity from their residual limbs, which is then used to actuate a robotic hand. These new developments not only bring back lost functionalities, but can also provide humanly impossible capabilities, turning those who were considered disabled to become super-abled. The next frontier of Robotic Musicianship research at Georgia Tech focuses on the development of wearable robotic limbs that allow not only amputees, but able-bodied people as well, to play music like no human can, with virtuosity and speed that are humanly impossible. This chapter addresses the promises and challenges of the new frontier of wearable robotic musicians, from a Robotic Prosthetic Drumming Arm that contains a drumming stick with a “mind of its own”, to a “Third Arm” that augments able-bodied drummers, to the Skywalker Piano Hand that uses deep learning predictions from ultrasound muscle data to allow amputees to play the piano using dexterous and expressive finger gestures.