Developed the "Palm Beat" music education device for children with hearing impairments.
Dentsu Digital Inc. and Pyramid Film Quadra announced on February 25th the joint development of "Palm Beat," an educational device that enables children with hearing impairments to learn music rhythms and tempo through light and vibration.
Traditional music education has addressed students with varying hearing abilities by teaching tempo and rhythm individually. Teaching multiple students simultaneously was considered difficult.
Palm Beat stimulates tactile sensation in the hands through device vibrations, enabling simultaneous transmission of the teacher's instructions.
Palm Beat features both a "baton-type" and an "egg-shaped" device. When the teacher waves the baton, the egg-shaped devices held by the students light up and vibrate via infrared communication.
Development proceeded through repeated special classes and music recitals, with the cooperation of Kayoko Yamamoto, a music teacher at the elementary division of the University of Tsukuba Special Needs School for the Hearing Impaired.
Last December, a recital was held in the auditorium of the elementary school in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, where the students performed a song they had practiced using PalmBeat for their parents. The students skillfully kept the rhythm and beautifully sang "Tombo no Megane" (Dragonfly Glasses).
Furthermore, they challenged themselves to sing without PalmBeat or hand clapping, relying solely on the teacher's conducting, and successfully performed the chorus. It seemed they rediscovered the joy of music and singing.
Videos of the lessons and recital can be viewed at ( https://youtu.be/9zT__MaeyMs ).
Teacher Yamamoto commented, "For children with hearing impairments, among the three elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm), rhythm has the highest potential for mastery. While few students could perform accurately during clapping practice, using PalmBeat immediately showed results exceeding expectations. They practiced while feeling comfortable with the cute design of the device. I think the biggest achievement was the students gaining confidence."
The development lead stated, "It was incredibly rewarding to see the children experience learning through PalmBeat and smile. While PalmBeat is still a prototype, we aim to refine the product and contribute to building a better society by supporting music education for hearing-impaired individuals facing similar challenges."
Official website: http://palmbeat.jp/
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