They created music out of thin air with the help of some electrical circuitry.
On Wednesday, a bunch of students of IIT-Madras formed a virtual band that will display its wizardry during Shaastra, the institute’s tech fest that begins on Saturday.
“You strum it with your right hand and it detects the gestures of the frets made with your left. The distance between them is important,” said Harsha Ampar, a second-year electrical engineering student, as he explained the working of his guitar — a cardboard with circuits.
Next to him, Manaswi Mishra drummed in the air. “Sensors will detect the bending of hands and tapping of feet,” she said.
May be this was what IIT-M dean (student affairs) L.S. Ganesh meant when he talked about the importance of students exploring technical creativity — the core of Shaastra.
The 14th edition of the fest will go on till January 8.
Besides, hosting technical exhibitions and competitions, Shaastra will also have international exhibitions, as well as the Industrial Open House, this year.
The pro Shaastra air-show will take place on Thursday and feature several professional flyers who will operate electric airplanes.
On Wednesday, IIT- Madras also launched the first edition of its research magazine. It is an initiative aimed at explaining research projects conducted on the campus and making it accessible to the general reader.
“Students have attempted to understand the nuances of projects undertaken by research scholars. It is an attempt to chronicle fascinating stories of research,” said Anand Rao, one of the editors of The Fifth Estate , the newsletter on the campus.
Bhaskar Ramamurthy, director of IIT-M, said attempts had been made to increase the research aspect of the fest. “The number of research scholars on the campus has been increasingly gradually. There are over 2,800 of them now. We have tried to bring out their attempts in the fest.”
