Steering wheel music pad lets you drum and drive
Eight sensors on this steering wheel cover from Kickstarter can trigger snare hits or animal sounds. They might even keep you awake.
Do you drum your steering wheel in traffic jams and at all the red lights? What if it could make drum sounds instead of dull thumps?
The ridiculously named Re-Inventing The Wheel (RITW) is an electronic drum pad that covers your steering wheel and links wirelessly with your car speakers and your iPhone.
The gizmo, which is the focus of a Kickstarter campaign, emits drum sounds through the car stereo via an FM transmitter or line-in jack as you rock along to your favorite tunes on your iPhone.
RITW has eight sensors that can be set to trigger a snare, tom, cowbell, or any drum sound you like, or effects like dog barks or even Chewbacca's howl. You also can hear your drumming -- solo or with background music -- through earphones or mini speakers.
You might think this could distract you while driving, putting yourself and others at risk. But developer Smack Attack says it can reduce "highway hypnosis," a trance-like state in which the driver's mind is not focused on the road.
Inventor Gregor "G-Man" Hanuschak, seen rapping in the promo vid below, says experiencing highway hypnosis while driving from Philadelphia to Silicon Valley inspired the concept for RITW.
I'm a frequent wheel-drummer myself, and I wonder if this wouldn't tempt me to get my feet in on the action, like kicking a bass drum pedal. Not a good idea if you find yourself stepping on the gas in 4/4 time.
Th G-Man is trying to drum up $200,000 for production of RITW, which is going for $149 with the iPhone app on the campaign page.
What do you think? Would you rock this thing on your wheel?