Rainbow Blob: Augmented Handpan using Leap Motion and Oculus Rift

It looks like a flying saucer and its metallic overtone-rich bell-like chime immediately fascinates the audience. For many years an absolute insider tip, handpans (also known as Hang or Spacedrum) have gained more and more popularity and evolved from an esoteric niche instrument to an idol of the public. Considering the assumption that instruments with very simple interfaces, like for instance drums, offer a particularly suitable introduction to making music, it follows that handpans could also be used in early musical education, as they provide the possibility to produce not only transient sounds, like most other easy-to-use percussive instruments, but tones and melodies, similar to the xylophone. However, the interface itself is rather abstract and not very informative about the kind of sounds it produces. It is also a very expensive instrument. For this reason, in this paper we present ongoing developments in the design of an augmented digital handpan called ’Rainbow Blob’. The system uses Leap Motion to capture strokes on a plexiglass dome to produce the typical ethereal sounds for which this instrument is famous. At the same time, additional visual information will be given as feedback and used for advice and learning instructions.