• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 23, 2011

Tod Machover gets credit for inventing the wildly popular "Guitar Hero" game platform, but he actually credits a faulty electrical glitch.

Machover, speaking on a panel about creativity hosted by McCann Worldwide and MRM Worldwide at the Cannes Lions Festival, said the inspiration that led to the creation of "Guitar Hero" came when he was developing a "hyperbow" for renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma, and the apparatus created unusual feedback, because Ma's body was actually absorbing electricity and acting like a human antenna.

"We had a mistake in the lab," he said, which got Machover thinking about how the mistake could be turned into an application utilizing the human body's ability to interact with the electrical current produced by playing an instrument.

"That led us to, 'Let's think about making a game'," he said, adding that the rest is history, but encouraging Cannes attendees to, "Think big, take risks and it will lead you to somewhere unusual." Rock on!