Some thoughts on Gilmore's self-tuning technology follow.  Sorry for
the length of this post; the invention fascinates me, and I got on a
roll.  The moderator is welcome to edit as needed.

 [ Everyone can talk about it!  I'm enjoying reading all the theories.
 [ Maybe in ten years we'll know the facts.  -- Robbie

An article I read stated the equipped pianos must be tuned a third of
a semitone sharp, and that the operating temperature is 35 degrees C.
(about 95 degrees F.).  That doesn't strike me as a temperature that
will cause permanent molecular changes in typical piano string metals;
and in any case the materials and manufacturing methods for the piano
strings will likely be chosen carefully.

This is probably at the top of QRS's "Must Engineer Well At All Costs"
list.  Can you imagine the expense of warrantee claims arising from
snapped strings, or the liability claims from injured owners or pets?
There are, incidentally materials designed to be drawn into tensioned
wire and retain their strength with repeated heating and cooling cycles
(within limits, of course).  Nitinol muscle wire, a shaped memory
alloy, comes to mind.

Since the system is designed to warm sharp strings into tune, the
system can't compensate for strings that are flat when cold.  That
means strings that are knocked severely enough out of tune will need
manual retuning, and soundboards that shrink significantly enough may
flatten strings pitches beyond the ability of the self-tuning system
to compensate and presumably will then require manual retuning.  It's
possible QRS's development company anticipates the latter and is
contemplating a composite soundboard unaffected by humidity and
temperature.

I would expect the QRS system to analyze each string's frequency during
playing, as well as at start-up.  Banging on a string with a felted
mallet induces energy into the string, and will itself cause the string
to heat; the system may have to reduce the tuning current on
particularly active strings to keep them in tune.  And then again,
maybe most of that energy is emitted as sound and very little is
converted to heat.

As for Fluffy shorting out on the strings, each string would represent
a separate circuit and each string is the fixed low-resistance
conductor between terminals for that circuit.  Fluffy would have to
grab both terminals AND present a lower resistance than the metal
string.  Too, only an idiot would NOT design the system to prevent
opportunities for electrical mishap.

I would hope that the controller allows for the tuning of individual
strings to be set to the cent, so that a tuning for a particular hall
can be made and fixed.  If I were to design the interface it would be
an LCD panel mounted inside the piano case with buttons to scroll and
select.  The panel would present menus and submenus that:

- Let the piano tech create one or more hall settings, each with
particular tunings for each string;

- Let the piano tech scroll through alerts telling what strings were
completely out of spec, and warning which strings were approaching
out-of-spec, depending upon the currently selected hall setting;

- Alert the piano tech to other faults, such as controller failings or
the chronic failure of a particular string to tune as expected (i.e.,
takes too long to tune, or takes more energy than expected.)

The controller should provide an interface to a PC so that diagnostics
and setup can be done from a notebook computer if desired.

I can't imagine this system will be suitable for retrofit to existing
pianos.  As for the controller technology behind it, it appears
relatively simple (I'm familiar with industrial control systems) and
doable inexpensively.  It's certainly far less expensive than, say, a
Disklavier piano mechanism, and so may prove cheap to install in new
pianos.

What you piano techs don't make in tunings you'll likely make up in
annual diagnostic checks desired by owners persnickety enough to even
own a self-tuning piano.  And I'll bet that in at least the first year
of manufacture there will be field problems that will require piano
tech intervention to fix.  Customers will plug their pianos into dead
mains, or forget to plug them in at all and then call you to come out
and fix their out-of-tune instrument; others will want custom tunings
to suit their ear or their performance space, and that will involve
more than the usual tuning.

If ever manufactured, self-tuning pianos will likely be a new business
opportunity and not a threat to existing business.

Rod Sprattling