Project Experiential Sound
A wearable haptic vest that lets you feel music as generative visual art surrounds you.
Focus: Haptics & Generative Art
Video Trailer
Project Experiential Sound — Thesis Trailer
Video coming soon — add a YouTube or Vimeo embed URL tovideo_url in the thesis markdown file.
Abstract
Experiential Sound is a multi-sensory performance installation that synchronizes music-responsive generative visual art with a custom wearable haptic vest. Audio input is analyzed in real time; frequency bands drive both a particle-based visual renderer and vibration motors distributed across the wearer's torso, shoulders, and arms. The result is an experience in which music becomes something you see and feel, not only hear.
Design Challenge
Existing music visualization tools remain screen-bound and passive. Experiential Sound asks what happens when the body becomes the interface—when rhythm is felt as pressure and melody is felt as spatial movement across skin. The project draws on research in synesthesia, embodied cognition, and live performance design.
Technical Approach
The haptic vest uses an array of eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motors mapped to seven frequency bands. A Max/MSP patch handles audio analysis and routes control signals via OSC to both the vest controller (Arduino-based) and a Processing generative visual sketch running on a dedicated display system.
Outcomes
Experiential Sound was performed at the IxDIA Spring Exhibition 2022 and demonstrated at the CSUEB Department of Art's end-of-year showcase. Audience feedback highlighted surprise at the depth of tactile immersion, particularly for low-frequency bass.
Process Documentation
[Add vest fabrication photos, Max/MSP patch screenshots, performance documentation here]