What if you could play a Begena without actually touching one?

I built a small web app that lets you play Begena using only the camera on your phone or computer.

The idea came to me after seeing people use cameras to create musical sounds with hand movements. I wanted to try making something similar with one of EOTC's instruments.

So I gave it a shot.

The app tracks the hand and detect finger movements. Each finger is mapped to a different Begena string, so by bending your fingers in front of the camera, just like you normally do, you can play the instrument in real time.

It uses MediaPipe for hand tracking, JavaScript for finger detection and Web Audio API to play the sounds. (I recorded each sound from my Begena)

Has 4 ቅኝትs (ሰላምታ ስለቸርነትህ ዋኔን አምባሰል) all in D major for now.

I’ve attached a demo video.

Try it: [BEGENA CAM]

Built with some AI assistance😁
Apparently, I could.

Would you actually try playing a Begena this way?