Hi guys,

I'm fairly new to the world of electronics. I've been wanting to build a MIDI-controller that would be able to control 3 parameters and found this:

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Where it seems that the board with electrodes is able to sense where his hand is in 3D, which I think is what I wold need. The video is a demo for a microchip but as I've understood, the chip only interprets the data that is receive from the electrodes and since I don't want flick and circlurar movement detection this seems unnecessary. So what I'm curious about is how the electrodes they are using are built and how they work.
When I've googled for it I've only found info about capacitive touch and similar which isn't what I'm looking for. I've also found som DIY projects where they build a 3D sensor with 3 sheets of cardboard dressed in aluminium and an arduino, but this isn't really the solution I had in mind.

So could anyone explain what I should be searching for to learn what those electrodes are and how that green board is constructed?

Thanks in advance

 

It's all in the data sheet.

 

Section 1 of the IC datasheet explains the principle of operation. Section 3.3.2 shows the electrode arrangement.

 

It's all in the data sheet.

Ah there it was, however I can't seem to find a keyword to search for to see if I can find existing products, "capacitive electrodes" only gives me hits regarding brainwaves etc. Any clue if there is a more specific term for capacitive electrodes that can detect a hand without the hand touching the sensor?

 

Google theremin.
Also Matryomin.