Fans of the laser theremin, rejoice! Sharper Image is now taking orders for the beamz Music Performance System . Break the beams of light with your hands to trigger pre-sampled instruments, loops, and drum beats. According to the product manual, it is primarily a controller and must be connected to your PC (Windows XP or Vistas) via a USB cable in order to produce sound. beamz has 30 built-in collections of sounds/instruments, or "songs" for your playing pleasure.

And the fun doesn't stop there...

Just imagine all that laser-min fun and familiy goodness in one neat package! I wonder if anyone out there will hack this thing to add a MIDI interface? From a visual perspective, it certainly presents well.

A beamz system will cost you $599 and expected to start shipping around April 15th. Luckily, Sharper Image is offering free Shipping with orders over $75 - (expires 4/30/08). I've asked for an evaluation unit to review - keep your fingers crossed.

Via: GearLog

So does this company have a website with tech specs? That doesn't seem right just sending you to Sharper Image. I want to know more.

Um...forgot to RTFM.

I thought Sharper Image declared bankruptcy??/

The Intertube's punishment of the Beamz just keeps coming...

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/04/08/...-before/

Nice! That first part sounded like Mike Patton and John Zorn.

I work with the manufacturer of the beamz, and they are now selling it direct on their website www.thebeamz.com for $499.95. You can download more genres/sounds to play from there as well.

I was at Sharper Image today (well, yesterday now) and the entire store was half price. Beamz was $200. Still too pricey in my opinion. I don't even think i'd buy one for $50, but I might as a gag gift. For me, though, I'd get bored pretty quickly with it.

I still would've liked to try it, just to give it a FAIR shot, but the floor model wasn't hooked up. :(