Turning bananas into piano keys might not be the most logical use of the fruit, but Makey Makey lets it happen.
That, and so much more.
Developed by two MIT Media Lab alums, Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum, the simple invention lets you hook random objects to a pair of clips that plug into your computer via USB.
The clips reroute commands from the keyboard to whatever item is touching the clips. That essentially fools your computer into thinking any object is a button, regardless of what it actually is — hunks of Play-Doh, buckets of water, or even pencil drawings, for example.
Makey Makey comes with two hook-up options, neither of which requires any programming experience. One side of the main circuit board resembles a video-game controller. The alligator clips connect to various slots pertaining to arrow keys, the space bar, and the left mouse click.
The reverse side comes with 16 additional slots for more controls. That means you can clip the Makey Makey to pieces of fruit or connect it to an entire staircase — each step clipped to the main board — to stomp out a complicated tune.
Makey Makey Classic sells for $49.95 on the company's website. It also offers a mini version, Makey Makey Go, for $24.95, which comes with one alligator clip in case you just have one banana and don't want a whole symphony of musical fruit.
But we'd totally buy extra bunches just to keep playing.
