Written by Jeroen Verschuren in Processing using the 'Minim' Audio Library for Processing (http://code.compartmental.net/tools/minim/)
Tensor Sympathy is a working prototype that allows to communicate via the Tensor Tympani (a muscle in the human inner ear) and a vibration sensor connected to a pc.
The installation questions the role we attach to our senses taken for granted. We use our eyes for seeing, our ears for hearing, our skin to feel. But, is it possible that some of our senses can change or even reverse roles?
A text message can be written on the screen by flexing an inner ear muscle at the right time the rotor passes the wanted character.
It’s a work in progress and there’s certainly much to improve and functionality to add like predictive writing and an improved -perhaps wireless- vibration sensor.
Projected use: While a demonstration project only, it might be used by individuals with limited physical ability, it’s easy to learn.
Screenshots of the prototype, most recent image on top.
The first image visualizes certain variables like audio sampling, timing and average line input. The Spirograph like shape in the last two images (made during prototyping) is formed by visualizing line input as squares in a circular motion and exists for only a fraction of a second (1/43 to be exact) during the lifetime of a single audio sample. The possibilities for rendering interesting shapes and motion are endless and a lot of fun to play with but for the sake of clarity kept to a minimum in the final design.
Of course, the name of the project ‘Tensor Sympathy’ is a play on the words ‘Tensor Tympani’ with hints of a possible less functional hearing while exercising our basic human need, communication.
Contact me if you need help with implementation or if you would like to know more about this project.
Original image attribution: Henry Vandyke Carter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Gray907.png
