=Molding Sound=

Xander Kent

To digitally manipulate sound becomes more interesting with each passing technological advance. A plethora of programs inhabit cyberspace with all sorts of bells and whistles that will transform any sound into whatever the user wants. One of the key aspects of technology and our interaction with it is constantly overlooked: our hands. Of course plenty of objects and peripherals exist that require the use of our hands such as mouses (mice?), keyboards, styluses (styli?), joysticks, etc., but such human-to-digital interfaces rarely utilize our sense of touch to their advantage. Only recently has technology begun to use our tactile sensors as a means of interaction and it keeps getting better all the time.

Haptic technology is a user interface technology that excels in determining motion and pressure to and from the outside world via peripherals (stylus, controller, etc.) and creates a direct effect from it into the cyber world. It also works both ways; a user can feel certain elements such as weight, texture and vibrations from the digital world through force feedback, enriching and deepening their interaction with technology. Such examples of this technology range digital tablets that give a user the illusion of drawing on their computer to high-end video game controllers that give a sense of weight to different weapons and objects (i.e.: a rifle will be heavier than a pistol).

The SoundSphere:

This device is meant to give users the feeling that they are manipulating sound with their very own hands. Rather than flicking a mouse or typing in keystrokes, here a person uses much tactile sensation to create sounds and use them in conjunction with other sounds. This is one of a trio of identical objects, each governing a specific musical instrument: drums, guitar or bass. The prongs on the back end are to be plugged into a "pedestal" that will allow users to rotate the sphere via the handle on the bottom 90 degrees. They also serve as the power input and the sound output to the surrounding speakers.

How it Works:

This interface utilizes Haptic technology similar to that used for the popular iPod click wheel and Force Feedback to detect the amount of pressure one is putting on the sides of the sphere. The sphere on the LCD screen is the visual representation of the desired sound. It will appear to squish together in accordance with the input from the pressure sensors. When turned horizontally (pictured) the amount of pressure will make the beat of whatever instrument is playing faster. When turned 90 degrees vertically, the pressure applied to the sensors will make the beat of the music play slower.

Like the iPod click wheel, one can rotate their fingers in a circular motion on the sides to turn the volume of the sound up or down.

Liquid Crystal Display is a high-end display method chiefly used for television displays and computer monitors. It utilizes an arrangement of molecules, electrodes and specialized filters to manipulate the liquid crystals into showing light in a desired fashion. The LCD screen in the center shows the visual representation of the sound being molded. A simple animation changes with the input from the user's hands from being a perfectly round sphere to a squished oval.

The overall effect of this work is to create the illusion that one is truly MOLDING the sound by manipulating this object on the screen with one's hands. Once the user has finished creating the desired beat, pitch and volume they can move to one of the other two identical spheres and "mold" the sound from their respective instruments, or work together with other users to create a mutually appealing audio experience. The target result is to mold a song complete with drums, bass and guitar created by the user's creativity and prowess with technological interfaces.

Links

Novint Falcon controller:http://home.novint.com/products/novint_falcon.php

Haptic Wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haptic

Synaesthesia (seeing sound):http://www.logarithmic.net/pfh/synaesthesia

Sound Visualization:http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/cscie129/images/snd_vis/snd_vis.html

iPod Wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod

Liquid Crystal Display wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCD

Force Feedback devices:http://ldt.stanford.edu/~yasukato/portfolio/class/cs147/as8/

DIY Force Feedback:http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/ForceFeedback/ForceFeedback.aspx