For the final project idea I wanted to have an opportunity to experiment with sound and noise to gain some basic knowledge on the topic.

I originally did some research around “colored” noises - various noise spectrums referring to the power spectrum of a noise signal that often (but not always) would be titled according to the color of light with similar spectra. This seemed like an interesting task to play with computationally on both - sound and color sides.

The colored noises have also been quite popular recently in the area of mediation and focus practices. There’s been claims that immersive sounds like white, brown and pink noises may help the brain to focus, sleep or relax — especially for people with A.D.H.D., and although there have been no solid scientific proofs, there’s definitely been a trend.

However I was not able to figure out how to create a comprehensive interactive experience based on it yet, so I decided to shift the focus to something that would be more experiential.

Some key aspects I ended up considering for the project:

• include simple sound generation/ manipulation;
• can involve more than 1 participant at a time;
• participatory;
• can be used in a few iterations or different components can be approached differently;
• activity results can be shared with participants (eg photo, print, etc);
• achievable on my own within a month: minimal production, moderate programming complexity etc.

This list helped me to envision an experience that would look more like a collective performance, so when I started digging through my collection of references I quickly remembered a device that I got a couple years ago (but never got to use).

This particular device I have is called Playtronica TOUCHME and is created for human body interaction, but it’s actually pretty simple - it is creating a circuit between the device, any organic material that contains water and power source.

In a nutshell:

• the device needs to be connected to a computer through USB cable
• one side of the devise is GROUND, the other is BUS
• BUS and GROUND can be touched directly, or connected to organic objects with crocodile clips
• when both BUS and GROUND are used - the circuit is closed, and by measuring the resistance values between the contact areas it is converted them into midi notes
• When the intensity (area) of the touch changes, the pitch of the note changes