Theremin Bollard

The Theremin Bollard is a gesture-controlled musical instrument that can be played by individuals with fine motor disabilities or mobility disabilities. The cylindrical-shaped instrument has a magnetic field that extends one to four feet around the instrument in all directions (i.e., 360-degree diameter). When it detects that a magnetic energy such as the user’s arm or hand has entered the magnetic field (i.e., has come within four feet of the instrument), the Theremin Bollard will convert the user’s movements and proximity into sound. For example, the user can raise the pitch of the tone by moving his or her arm/hand closer to the instrument, and lower the pitch by moving his or her arm/hand farther away from it. The user can also move different parts of his or her body inside the instrument’s range at the same time to produce multiple sounds simultaneously. The Theremin Bollard is connected to and sits on top of a stainless-steel base, which features a built-in omni-directional speaker. And the technology rack, which is a box-shaped unit that stands separate from the instrument and the base, houses the DBX Equalizer (EQ) unit, the Digital Sound Processing (DSP) unit, and an amplifier system-all of which work together to control the instrument’s sounds.