Japanese Company Produces Playable Air Guitar

TOKYO – Air guitars just got real. Japanese toy makers unveiled "air guitar" gadgets at the annual Tokyo International Toy Show that, thanks to heat and motion sensors, actually make music.

"This is a toy that allows anybody to sound and feel like a rock star," said Keishi Abe, who was demonstrating Takara Tomy Corp's "Air Guitar Pro."

The gadget has 10 songs, including Deep Purple's "Smoke On the Water," programmed to play automatically and is set to hit the market next month.

It can also be connected to an MP3 music player or a speaker system, the manufacturer says.

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Manufacturers also showcased air guitars that could be attached to your wrist and which blasted music as you moved.

"You just put it on your wrist and shake your arm once so it will play one phrase. In order to play an entire song, you just keep moving your arm so even children can easily play music," said Nana Kaneko, who was playing "Air Musician" by Tokyo-based toy maker Mega House.

The air guitar, an imaginary instrument used when pretending to play the guitar, has become popular in Japan in recent years.

Ochi "Dainoji" Yosuke of Japan won the 2006 World Air Guitar Championships held in Finland.

Even robots toys seemed eager to join the craze: At the show were three small humanoid robots who were playing air guitars.