Sound on Intuition: Turning Movements into Music

Pieter-Jan Pieters of Eindhoven-based design studio Owow, has created a collection of instruments that “transform your feelings into a piece of music”. The instruments uses sensors to convert everyday actions such as moving or tapping fingers into music. The project was inspired by the process of learning specific movements when being taught an instrument. 

The different components include sensors worn on the fingers and feet to record tapping and movements, a stethoscope-like monitor that records the user’s heartbeat, and a scanner that transforms handwriting or doodles into electronic beats. A computer programme allows the user to alter the tone and sound of the different layers of beats. 

The creation of intuitive user interfaces – often mimicking everyday movement patterns – is a growing area of interest for designers. To see other possibilities of how technology can heighten abilities and fuse with natural human behavior, see the Stylus reports Superhuman: Pushing the Limits of Human Advancement, and Technological Body Modification: In Pursuit of Singularity. 

OWOW studio