Invisible "Air" control device?

[HankMcSpank]

I remember from way back when Robert A. Penfold had written some article in Practical Electronics Magazine about controlling the pitch of an instrument using hand movements. It wasn't using IR, but RF field modification by the moving hands. I cannot remember the exact name he used for it right now.

If you plan on using IR, Sharp has some sensors that could be useful. However, I am not really sure if they are the GO-NOGO type which work to a particular distance. One such sensor is the GP2Y0A02YK0F. It shows a range of 20-150cm and a nice curve to go along with it.

My hunch is you might be happier using near field RF for your application.

Hi Jerson - Would you be thinking thinking of a theremin type device? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin (if so, since this is going on a guitar - having all that RF is probably not a good idea from an EMI pickup perspective)

Here's a chap that's used infra red (vs RF) to control a theremin....

http://bondoukousoftware.com/InfraredTheremin.html

with the obligatory video...



that 'control range' (3"?) in the video looks a little small for my needs.

He has a useful schematic at the foot of his page...which I guess is a good starting point - but I'd still like to get the range up a little.