Roger Dannenberg Develops Signal Processing Algorithm for iPhone/iPad App

"Rock Prodigy," an iPhone/iPad app that uses a signal processing algorithm developed by Roger Dannenberg, associate research professor of computer science, has won the 2011 Appy Award for Education. The Appy Awards, which honor mobile apps in a number of categories, were presented Feb. 28 at MediaPost's annual OMMA Global Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

As Dannenberg describes it, Rock Prodigy is "basically Guitar Hero for real guitars." The app, produced by The Way of H Inc., allows users to play along with master recordings of classic guitar songs. Unlike the popular Guitar Hero video game, Rock Prodigy enables players to use real instruments and thus learn how to play guitar and learn songs. Players can compete with other users to achieve the high score for a song, or they can use the app to practice, at various skill levels.

Dannenberg developed a real-time polyphonic pitch recognition algorithm, which enables the app to determine if the user plays the correct note or chord. The company has applied for a patent on the technology. Dannenberg serves on the company's advisory board.