Revolutionary digital instrument that lets you make music simply by gesturing. KAGURA is motion made music.
KAGURA lets anyone become a musician by using only your body movement and gestures. All you need is your computer and a web camera. No hand-holding needed!
Music performance has been a vital part for our quality of life since the dawn of man, and is one of our most primitive of needs. Until now, it has only been the musically gifted that were able to fully act on that part of who we are. With KAGURA, anyone can become a musician. Let KAGURA unleash the musical potential in you.
If you said yes, then you know what to do! Pledge!
Takuya (Dancer): When I first tried out KAGURA, I was impressed with how you could make sound from basically thin air. And for it to even recognize distance was really surprising.
I knew there would be a lot ways you could put it to use, having it be able to make sound in an empty space, but I immediately thought, “I could do this with dance!” Making sound out of movement. That is a new art form. I think KAGURA is a technology that will give a new space to a lot of people.
Shuji Yamagiri (acoustic guitar/vocal): Our vocalist for KAO=S, Kaori, is very expressive, even for a motion actor, and her movement and dance during the songs is just so beautiful, I always had the idea to somehow turn her action into music and meld that into the band’s. So, when I heard about KAGURA, I knew we had to incorporate it into our shows.
On stage, Kaori’s movements painted a perfect picture to match the koto and Uilleann pipe sounds we set up. To see it come together was really exciting.
KAO=S has a very Japanese sound with a shamisen player in our band, and while we have those traditional elements, through KAGURA we are embarking on a new kind of sound that also gives a fresh, visual edge, making an interesting interplay between the traditional and the new. Kaori also does sword dancing, and we are looking forward to seeing KAGURA keep pace with her speed and full body actions.
Awesome!, Crazy fun!, I want to use it for my shows! I need this at my next party!, If I had this as a kid, I would have gotten into music., The future! …Are just some of the reactions KAGURA has received so far.
A user-friendly interface lets your create your own Sound Sets.
Just place your icon and drop your sound into it. Use the different quantization settings to quickly get the rhythm how you want it.
Line up your sample icons and you’ve got yourself a song.
6th generation Intel Core processors
Web camera or Intel RealSense F200/SR300
RealSense™ is a 3D camera developed by Intel® that measures depth, allowing you to add even more functionality to KAGURA.
Unlike a regular camera that will respond to all movement in its field, RealSense 3D can be set to process movement only within 5 feet. This eliminates background noise like vibrations and lighting changes for worry free stage performances.
KAGURA has taken 14 years to get this far. It was first created as a media art project by Shunsuke Nakamura in graduate school, but was put on the back burner while waiting for technology to catch up to make a go of it. But with all of the pieces in place now, it was time for KAGURA to take the stage!
The KAGUA project got its official restart with a big grand prize win at the 2013 Intel® Perceptual Computing Showcase.
SXSW and NAMM got the beta release in 2015, and the overwhelming response led us to take the project head on with a Mac release as well as the Windows version.
And just in June, KAGURA took the grand prize at the Sónar+D Startup Competition, kicking our motivation into overdrive.
Which brings us here to Kickstarter. We are almost there to bring KAGURA to the world, but we need your help to put the finishing touches on the Windows version and to develop the Mac. All funding collected on Kickstarter will go towards that goal.
Just move and make music! And anyone can do it! Join the KAGURA revolution, the time is now!
Please contact us at ks@kagura.cc with any questions, and we’ll get right back to you!
The expected shipping date has been planned out as thoroughly as possible, however, delivery deadlines may be extended to maintain the quality of the rewards. In that case, we promise to inform you of the situation and keep you up to date.
Please note that although the rewards say, “Rewards Ship Anywhere in the World,” it may not be possible to ship to certain areas as delivery may be restricted for safety or other reasons. In these cases we reserve the right to act at our discretion. Please contact us if you believe your area may be subject shipping restrictions.
In order to keep our promise to deliver on the stated rewards for all backers, refunds will not be accepted 14 days after the Kickstarter is funded. This will not apply in cases of negligence or error on our part.