The MIDI Association presented its 2026 MIDI Innovation Awards finalists at Music China in Shanghai, held Oct. 28–31, with several entries available for hands-on testing at the Lab 99 booth, midi org reported.
The awards, sponsored by NAMM and open to students, one-person companies and large manufacturers alike, accepted submissions at midi.org before public voting ran Sept. 8–22 and a judging panel selected category winners. All entries remain listed on midi.org after the competition, the report said.
Among playable hardware on the stand was Faderpunk from Arthur Gibert of ATOV, a 16-fader MIDI and CV modulator with sequencers, LFOs and generators, offered as open source. Opti Deko from Shohei Kubo of Collet Instruments upgrades existing keyboards with optical sensors for fine pitch control and microtonal playing. The Jambourine from Arne Schulze appeared as a Non-Commercial Hardware finalist, and OHLA, an opto-haptic linear attenuator from Mia Fanelli, was displayed alongside them.
REFLECT, a VR-based rehabilitation game from Thomas Beltrame of Flinders University, drew a four-day queue and demonstrated accessibility applications by turning arm and hand movement into music. A physics-based software instrument simulates acoustic sound at audio rate with up to 16-voice polyphony and MPE or MIDI CC control, shipping in June 2026 as VST3, AU and AAX.
The report noted recurring themes across entries, suggesting those who license, distribute or fund products can use the full entry list to identify emerging MIDI products ahead of broader market adoption. Entries for 2027 open next year.
For more information, visit midi.org.
