Haptic midi keyboard design

Péter Horváth

Today the sound produced by digital pianos has gained high standards thanks to the modern synthesis algorithms and signal processing techniques. However the touch of conventional midi keyboards is far from that of acoustic pianos. To emulate the dynamic behaviour of a real piano action consisting of many levers, springs and masses coupled with changing kinematic constraints supposes two main parts: a motorized keyboard (haptic display device) and a real time signal processing unit. Beneficial features of a haptic keyboard are the mobility and changeable touch intensity.