Ferro-Instrument
This is a Hyperinstrument that makes ferrofluid respond to music by altering the magnetic field.
From left to right, the ferrofluid containers are responding to the Volume, Bass, Mids, and Highs of the music.
I designed this device in a group project as a part of my Reimagining Hyperinstruments class in Fall 2021. A hyperinstrument is a device that uses technology to enhance the virtuosity of musical performers. This one consists of 4 electromagnets and 8 hall effect sensors, along with the 4 mosfets to drive the electromagnets in response to music. The brains of the operation is a Teensy 4.0 microcontroller, which has a very useful Audio Design tool that made it easy to take audio over USB and do a frequency analysis to determine the magnitude of different frequency ranges.
The other members of the group were Yuval Gur, Mitchell McDermott, Cindy Yang, Xuwei Wu, and Titus Kim.
Ideation
Proof of Concept
Just making sure that moving ferrofluid with this electromagnet actually works
Music Test
Using music as an input to make the ferrofluid go wump
Final Prototype
Ferrofluid Concerto
I performed the Ferro-instrument at the top floor of the MIT Media lab for an audience of 100+ people.