A piano learning software called PianoVision is marketed as “the next evolution of the world’s most popular instrument” and claims to “accelerate your piano learning utilizing Passthrough AR and hand tracking.”
The program teaches people how to play the piano regardless of whether they have a keyboard instrument or not. It is available for download on the MetaQuest, VR Gaming headset.
Gamers have two options for using the app: they can use it in conjunction with an existing real piano or midi keyboard, or they can play on an entirely virtual “air piano” to learn notes and hand positions.
Users can see their hands and keyboards in front of them as the software superimposes interactive graphics that demonstrate how to play the instrument using augmented reality technology.
The App is now accessible on the App Lab store for MetaQuest devices after initially debuting in February of this year with a closed early access.
Founder, Zac Reid, tweeted the game’s public release.
@PianoVisionAR is available now on App Lab!
PianoVision is an Augmented Reality Piano learning app and rhythm game for the Quest 2. https://t.co/yLoHtHgfHUpic.twitter.com/1ong3m5jdX— Zac Reid (@ZachaReid) August 3, 2022
Reid made the program to make learning the piano fun for aspiring musicians in the vein of Guitar Hero. The Guitar Hero video game franchise, which debuted in 2005, included a guitar-shaped controller that allowed players to imitate playing a stringed instrument.
Out of the 12 million young people in the UK, a 2008 research by the national charity Youth Music found that half played music video games like Guitar Hero. These games are reported to have prompted 2.5 million of those young people, who make up one fifth of the group, to pick up a real musical instrument.