Jazz Hands, but not as we know it

You may have heard of the phrase ‘jazz hands.’ Here’s the official explanation of this phenomenon:

“a gesture originating in musical theatre, in which the hands are waved rapidly to and fro with the palms facing forward and the fingers splayed, used typically to express or indicate excitement or triumph.”

Well, we can only imagine the jazz euphoria induced by a pair of Mi.Mu gloves that enable wearers to invent music with gesticulations. Surely this is the gateway to personal free-jazz expression? The gloves contain sensors that recognise hand movements and transform them into notes. Music can be created in a random or rhythmic way. They’ve already received a ‘Wearable IT’ award. Of course, it's not just jazz that these gloves could be applied to. They've already attracted the attention of pop star Ariane Grande who has used them live and Harry Potter composer Imogen Heap (below).

Mi.mu is a non-profit startup comprising a team of musicians, artists, scientists and technologists developing cutting-edge wearable technology for the performance and composition of music. In their description of the gloves they say, “Users experience a dramatic shift in their perceptions of music performance and composition as the technology fades away and what used to be a barrier to entry becomes an enabler of creative freedom.”

That’s jazz!