Read ‘em：片腕だけで弾けるギター

A university professor here has developed a system to assist people with physical disabilities to play the guitar using one arm and a foot.

Go Koutaki, 43, an information engineering professor at Kumamoto University’s Faculty of Engineering, is developing systems that help people with disabilities, such as partial paralysis or impairment of one arm, to play musical instruments. For example, the “semi-automatic guitar performance support device” replaces the action of holding down chords with one’s fingers by using a foot to tap pedals linked by radio waves. Using only a foot and a hand, the guitar produces the sound the musician envisions.

In mid-October in Tokyo, Koutaki participated in an event where developers presented the results of their unique ideas at their respective booths. A man who had lost his left arm in an accident visited Koutaki’s booth and played a guitar with the device attached. The man, who had originally enjoyed playing the guitar, said that he had tried to develop a device that would allow him to play with only his right arm but had given up. He looked moved by Koutaki’s invention, saying, “I’m able to play for the first time in a year.” Later, he apparently visited the booth many times with his friends.

Koutaki sticks to the concept of people enjoying the pleasure of playing, instead of making the system fully automatic, and listeners can feel the live sound. He has also been developing systems to help musicians hold down saxophone keys and assist them to play the flute.

Originally, Koutaki specialized in image processing in the information engineering field. Wanting to make his research useful to people, he became interested in “human-computer interaction,” a field that uses machines to improve people’s lives, and began working with students in his laboratory to develop robots about three years ago.

Among other things, Koutaki decided to use technology in music, which he himself loves, to help people regardless of language or age. After a year and a half in the lab, he developed the current system.

Koutaki’s wish is that his research will boost people’s joy in being able to do what they couldn’t do before. He said, “I hope to realize a society where people’s lives are enriched through the development of robots.”

The results of his research can be seen on his lab’s YouTube channel “Koutaki Mechanical Wind Ensemble.”

　半身不随だったり片腕が不自由だったり障害のある人の楽器演奏を手助けするシステムを、熊本大学工学部の上瀧（こうたき）剛教授（43）＝情報工学＝が開発を進めている。例えば「半自動ギター演奏支援デバイス」はコードを抑える動作を、電波で連動させたペダルを足で踏む操作で代替する仕組み。足と片手だけの演奏で、ギターが奏者の思い描く音を奏でる。

　「1年ぶりに演奏できた」。10月半ば、東京都内。上瀧さんも参加したユニークな発想で開発者それぞれの成果を各ブースで披露する催しでの出来事だった。上瀧さんのブースを事故で左腕を失った男性が訪ね、デバイスを取り付けたギターで演奏した。元々、ギターが趣味だったという男性は、右腕だけで弾くための機器を自分で開発しようと試みたこともあったものの挫折したといい、感動した様子を見せた。その後、友人を伴って何度もブースを訪れたという。

　全自動ではなく、演奏する楽しさを味わえるよう、聞く側は生の音を感じることができることが上瀧さんのこだわりだ。サックスのキーを押さえたり、フルートの演奏を補助したりするシステムも開発している。

　元々、上瀧教授は情報工学の中の画像処理が専門。研究したことを人の役に立たせたいと、機械を用いて人の暮らしをより良くするための分野「ヒューマンコンピューターインタラクション」に関心を持ち、3年ほど前から研究室の学生らと一緒にロボット開発に取り組み始めた。

　中でも、言葉や年代に関係なく、そして自身も好きな音楽で技術を役立てようと考えた。研究室で1年半かけ、現在のシステムを確立させた。

　願いは、できないことができる喜びを、研究で後押しすること。「ロボットの開発で人の暮らしが豊かになる社会を実現できたら」。

　成果は、動画投稿サイト「ユーチューブ」で設けている研究室のチャンネル「上瀧機械化吹奏楽団」で発信している。