Robotic exoskeleton can train expert pianists to play faster

Trained pianists who hit a plateau improved their finger speed after a half-hour training session with a device that moves their fingers for them

By Alex Wilkins

17 January 2025

A robotic exoskeleton can train people to move their fingers more quickly

Shinichi Furuya

A robotic hand exoskeleton can help expert pianists learn to play even faster by moving their fingers for them.

Robotic exoskeletons have long been used to rehabilitate people who can no longer use their hands due to an injury or medical condition, but using them to improve the abilities of non-disabled people has been less well explored.

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Now, Shinichi Furuya at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo and his colleagues have found that a robotic exoskeleton can improve the finger speed of trained pianists after a single 30-minute training session.

“I’m a pianist, but I [injured] my hand because of overpractising,” says Furuya. “I was suffering from this dilemma, between overpractising and the prevention of the injury, so then I thought, I have to think about some way to improve my skills without practising.”