Toshio Iwai and the Tenori-on

The Electroplankton piece has prompted many readers to ask about the work of 43-year-old interactive artist and University of Tokyo professor, Toshio Iwai. In addition to Electroplankton, Toshio has recently developed the tenori-on, a prototype from Yamaha's product design laboratory, which produces music through a grid of 256 illuminating buttons on a brushed-aluminum tablet.



It produces light as well as sound, providing a visual reference to the notes being played. What I find really exciting is that we can now use light and interface as a structure for composing and sequencing rather than the traditional notes and staff.

From the New York Times:

"The aim of this project is to create a musical instrument for nonmusicians," Mr. Iwai said. "I'm not a musician, but I had a dream to play an instrument on the stage."

Does anyone know more about Iwai's work?

Tip: Mark Hurst at Good Experience.

Tags: music, instruments, technology

Electroplankton

The Nintendo DS has been the perfect system for me. It has the best handheld games on the market (Mario Kart DS, Metroid Pinball, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrows), an innovative dual-screen, touch-screen interface which has created some unique gameplay and the ability to see maps and options in one full screen while playing on the other full screen. The built-in wi-fi connects flawlessly to the network at home promoting a lot of racing with Mario Kart racers worldwide. This has enough to keep anyone satisfied, and it has..the DS is the fastest selling console ever in Japan. DS sales have already topped 10 million worldwide, 4 million in the US, and I'm not even going to touch the whole Nintendogs thing.

The great news is all of this is just a prelude to the coolest thing you can do with your Nintendo DS, Electroplankton. It's so cool, you can't even go down to Toys R Us and get it. Concerned with the lack of appeal to a broad US market, Nintendo chose to release it online and through a specialty-store deal with KB Toys in limited quantities. This is because it's not a game, rather an art project.

Electroplankton is an interactive electronic art piece by Toshio Iwai. Inspired by the toys of his youth: a microscope, a tape recorder, a synthesizer and an NES, Iwai has created a virtual world of creatures that you can touch and direct in various patterns or by changing the environment around them to generate music. You can even sample your voice in via the mic and it will be played back to various beats.

As you spend more time with your DS and Electroplankton it becomes a futuristic musical instrument. Part drum machine, part sequencer where changing aspects of the virtual world in front of you (like hitting drum pads or twisting knobs, traditionally) alters the patterns and sounds you produce.

This art project is more about the moment you are in. You cannot save your creations on the game directly. Though I'll probably try a line out into a recording device or computer shortly. The sounds are amazing and combined with audio production software, DS/Electroplankton will soon provide the elements to some new audio tracks at my studio.

Buy: Nintendo DS, Electroplankton (Amazon.com)

Tags: nintendo, music, video games, art

Tron Revival: Depeche Mode Style

Justin Alt creates an amazing edit of Disney's cyberpunk classic, Tron to Depeche Mode's Suffer Well (from Playing the Angel). The 80's future-forward imagery mixed with old-school synths from DM's latest album combine to create an incredibly nice narrative.

Tags: depeche mode, tron, disney, remix, scifi

Disney Buys Pixar

$7.4 Billion dollar purchase. Steve Jobs (Apple/Pixar CEO) now holds the most Disney shares and will become a board member at the mouse house. Ready for some Disney stuff on your iPod?

It's official. Steve Jobs' Pixar Animation Studio was purchased today by the big mouse. We are not sure what to say. We love Disney and love Pixar, know animation professionals at both, and aren't sure if the combination will hurt or help the respective companies. Let's hope the best of both rub off on each other. Let the fun begin.

Tags: disney, pixar, business

Target Roof Branding

It must be a bit unnerving painting a big bullseye on your roof. In Chicago, Target paints the roof with their logo for a little added marketing near O'Hare as customers fly by. Expect more of this rooftop marketing as Google Maps, with satellite imagery, is more widely adopted.

Tags: google maps, marketing, target, chicgo

Tip: kottke.org

The Wal-Mart Effect

Here's an interesting tale (Fast Company) about the broad market, low-cost, retail empire our shirts will never be a part of, a great read.

"Wal-Mart isn't just the largest store in America, or the largest store in the world, or the largest employer in the world. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world -- and one of the most powerful."

Shop: The Wal-Mart Effect(at Amazon.com)

Tags: walmart, economy, book

Aluminum Coke Bottles

New Aluminum Coca-Cola Bottles designed by a team of five design agencies, tagged the 'M5' (Magnificent 5) by Coca-Cola. The Designers Republic (Europe); MK12 (North America); Lobo (South America); Caviar (Asia) and Rex & Tennant McKay (Africa). These bottles will be provided on a limited basis to various countries over the next year.

Tags: design, coke, shapes

The Influence of Shape and Size

Shapes influence how we interact with our environment and our perceptions of value and meaning. Have you ever been tricked by the small gift in a big box? Intimidated by the tall boss? Enamored with a small baby?

Our consumption can be influenced by shapes. When drinking, short and squatty glasses can lead to over-indulgence. When eating, the perception of quantity can be acheived by spreading a shallow amount of food over a large plate.

How have you seen shapes influence your perceptions?

Tags: shapes, influence, perception

Disable the iTunes Mini-Store

Shift-Command-M. Or click on the rectangular icon with a down arrow. Not only does this hide the mini-store it stops sending your personal data to Apple when you click on a song in your library.

If you do want share your musical tastes, and get more out of it. We suggest last.fm.

UPDATE: Macworld clarifies that "The data sent is used to update the MiniStore and then discarded."

RESOLUTION: Apple has changed the feature, you now can opt-in to the mini-store if you'd like. Good choice.

Tags: itunes, apple, mac, spyware

T-Shirt Folding

Fold-Your-Shirt.com breaks down tshirt folding into a 2 second technique, complete with instructional pictures and video.

Tip: Teees.com

Tags: t-shirt, t-shirt, howto