If making music is what moves you, it's great to always have your instrument at hand just in case inspiration strikes. That's easy enough if your instrument of choice is the harmonica or penny whistle, but even a small electronic keyboard would require a mighty big pocket. Japan's DID has seen the light, and developed the Virtual Piano, which uses a the same technology as the Virtual Keyboard to project a two octave keyboard onto any light-colored flat surface. A sensor inside the device can tell which of the projected keys your fingers are touching, and then it plays the corresponding notes through the built-in speakers. A selector lets you choose between piano, organ, pipe organ, and harpsichord sounds, and the unit is polyphonic, meaning you can play chords in addition to single notes. At 1 x 1 x 4 inches and around 3.5 ounces, the Virtual Piano is about the size of a large cell phone, and DID claims a full-size version with 88 keys is also possible. The Virtual Piano is coming out in Japan this November and should sell for about $130.
— Michael Trei

Virtual Keyboard, via Pink Tentacle