[ Ref. http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/leonardo-da-vincis-wacky-piano-is-heard-for-the-first-time-after-500-years-20131118-2xpqs.html 
 [ and http://tygodnik.onet.pl/zmysly/the-da-vinci-tone-in-english/qw5s9 

Yes, I found the article very questionable, particularly in the claim
that this is the first example of such an instrument since da Vinci's
time.  For over 35 years I have been building and playing the manual
style hurdy-gurdy, or vielle à roue, which this instrument is based on,
and I have researched the subject quite intensely.  When this article
came out, so many of my friends on Facebook sent me links with bit of
skepticism.

This instrument, also known as a Geigenwerk, although not very
common, was made in different variations throughout Europe.  It is
also described in detail in Michael Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum 1614.
Most that I have seen operate by crank at the opposite end or by foot
treadle.  I have also seen over half dozen instruments made in the
past 50 years.  When in my late 20s I designed one but never got
around to building it.

The mechanism is simple.  The heart of the instrument are several
laminated wooden wheels for each octave which are geared to turn
slightly faster as you go up the scale.  Each octave of strings is
stretched between three bridges: the front two bridges are semi-circular,
the first one being slightly larger and the second having a slightly
smaller diameter than the bow wheel.

Between these bridges are little hooks which connect to the key board.
When the key is depressed, it pulls the string down the second bridge
where makes contact with the bow wheel, very much like the Violino
Virtuoso.  The third bridge, being a series of ellipses, transfers the
vibration to the soundboard in a conventional manner.

By quivering the keys you can also create a vibrato effect.  It has a
conventional keyboard which is the only thing "piano" about the Viola
Organista -- it is a _bowed_ instrument.

Whoever produced that article should have done their homework!  Just
Google on "Geigenwerk" and see it all.

Brian Thornton - Short Mountain Music Works
Woodbury, Tennessee