Roland announced a piano with an integrated tablet and drones as speakers

The Japanese company Roland unveiled a unique 50th Anniversary Concept Piano at CES 2023. The name suggests that we are dealing with a concept for the brand's 50th anniversary.

Here's What We Know

The novelty has an omnidirectional speaker system, represented by 360-degree speakers built into the case. Each speaker is equipped with seven speakers. But the main feature of the 50th Anniversary Concept Piano is the presence of drones. They, too, are equipped with speakers and can safely move around indoors.

This solution has two disadvantages. Firstly, the wireless connection via Bluetooth gives a delay of up to 0.2 seconds. Second, the drones' propellers make noise during flight. Roland solved the first problem by using its own protocol instead of Bluetooth.

But it was not able to get rid of motor noise. The company will wait until technology appears on the market that allows drones to be completely silent. Since we are now exclusively talking about the piano concept, there is still time.

Another feature of the 50th Anniversary Concept Piano is an integrated tablet computer. It allows you to perform a number of tasks, including displaying sheet music, teaching beginner pianists, and working with connected devices via Bluetooth or USB MIDI.

Source: Roland