Could This Glove Replace Your Piano Teacher?

When you’re learning how to play the piano, coordinating your mind and fingers, and developing your dexterity and muscle memory, are all important skills. Because of this, a dream of playing music used to be near impossible for spinal cord injury patients. But now, Georgia Tech researchers have found a way to help.

Enter the Mobile Music Touch (MMT), an electronic glove that vibrates a student’s fingers to indicate which keys to play on the piano. After an eight-week study, researchers found that patients using the glove to learn how to play the piano saw improved motor skills and finger sensation.

Even beyond the rehabilitation effects, those students were able to learn and memorize songs faster than students learning without the glove.

Pretty cool, right? Check out the video below to learn even more:

So what do you think – would you replace your piano lessons with a glove like this? Don’t worry, teachers, we doubt you have much to worry about! Right now, the glove is only being used as a therapy tool. Plus, nothing beats the individual attention, support and encouragement students get from working with a private instructor. But it’s definitely cool to see how music and science are so intertwined here. What will technology bring us next?