Air Harp — Play a Laser Harp with Your Hands

How to Play

1. Click Enable Sound first — browsers require a user tap to unlock audio. You'll hear a test note and the button turns green.
2. Click the camera area to start — allow camera access when prompted. Sit ~50–80cm from your camera in a well-lit room.
3. Glowing vertical strings will appear overlaid on your camera feed.
4. Reach your hand toward the strings — when any fingertip crosses a string's x-position, it plucks that note.
5. Sweep slowly for individual notes or sweep fast across all strings for a glissando effect.
6. Change scale or string count using the controls above the camera to explore different sounds.

How It Works

The harp is one of humanity's oldest string instruments, with origins dating back thousands of years across ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Celtic cultures. Unlike guitars or pianos, the harp produces sound by plucking open strings — each string rings freely without any frets or keys to limit it. The Air Harp offers multiple musical scales to explore: the pentatonic scale (five notes) is beloved in folk music worldwide because every combination sounds harmonious. The major scale produces bright, uplifting melodies, while the minor scale evokes deeper, more contemplative moods. The blues scale adds characteristic "blue notes" that define soul and jazz traditions. When you sweep your hand across multiple strings in quick succession, you create a glissando — a flowing cascade of notes that is the harp's signature sound. All the notes you hear are generated instantly through synthesis, creating that pure, crystalline tone harps are famous for.