ROLI today introduced the Airwave, a gestural MIDI controller that they say turns any ROLI keyboard into an “intelligent piano,” with vision and voice capabilities.

On first glance, musicians may see the Airwave as a Roland D-Beam on steroids. More advanced gestural controller options have been available for years, like the Leap Motion + GECO combination or the Genki Instruments Wave MIDI Controller. But the Airwave goes beyond most earlier gestural controllers, letting you use a variety of gestures to add different types of musical expression.

ROLI is positioning the Airwave for both beginners and experienced musicians alike.

“Music learning and playing have been far too difficult for too long: intimidating, expensive, and one-size-fits-all,” said Roland Lamb, CEO of ROLI. “With recent advances in computer vision and AI, we are finally able to innovate beyond the keys, and can now bring this human-centric technology to music learners and creators alike.”

ROLI Airwave use 3D infrared cameras and “ROLI Vision technology” to capture precise hand and finger movements as you play.

Airwave is designed specifically for ROLI keyboard controllers. Connect it to a Seaboard or Piano M to expand the dimensions of touch already on offer.

The Airwave also lets you interact with your ROLI keyboard with voice commands. For example, you can ask your ROLI Piano to show you a chord, a full piece of music, or give you some tips to level up your playing.

For beginners, the ROLI Airwave is designed to combine with the light-up keys of the ROLI Piano M to create a learning system that can teach good habits across all 5 principles of technique: posture; hand position; harmony; rhythm and dynamics.

For experienced musicians, ROLI Airwave offers new options for musical expression. With the simple raise of their hands, creators can transform a piano into a full orchestra or morph one sound into another with a tilt of a wrist. Airwave gives you 5 new expressive gestures: Air Raise; Air Glide; Air Tilt; Air Flex and Air Slide.

Spatial Expression with ROLI Airwave:

Pricing and Availability:

The ROLI Airwave is available to pre-order for 299 EUR/USD, with shipping expected for April 2025.

Can the ROLI Airwave take gestural music control to a new level? Check out the demo videos and share your thoughts in the comments!