Bizarre things have been done with the iPhone - You can start your car with an iPhone app. The iPhone has also been used to release Indie movies and an artist drew the cover picture of New Yorker with just an iPhone.
Another interesting use of the iPhone unfolds as students of University of Michigan get ready to perform an Orchestra next week - just using iPhones.
The performance is part of a course called "Building a Mobile Phone Ensemble" which is taught by a Computer scientist named Georg Essl. Apparently, Georg is also a musician and was earlier known for innovating the use of microphone as a wind sensor.
In his present role, Georg teaches his students the science behind mobile phone programming and how it can be used to synthesize sound. As part of the course, students learn to tweak the iPhone in such a way that moving your fingers across the touch screen or blowing air into the mic or shaking the iPhone all produce unique sounds.
Students of the course will now showcase their newly acquired skills to produce sound from the iPhone in the Orchestra to be performed live on December 9. Talking about this, Georg Essl says
“The mobile phone is a very nice platform for exploring new forms of musical performance. We're not tethered to the physics of traditional instruments. We can do interesting, weird, unusual things. This kind of technology is in its infancy, but it's a hot and growing area to use iPhones for artistic expression"
While you might dismiss this off as a nerdy way to express one's creativity, the course has the potential to explore many interesting ways of improvising present day gadgets. Essl's earlier innovation is now being used by iPhone apps like Ocarina that let you turn your iPhone into a flute. It will be interesting to see what comes of Essl's new venture.
[via 9to5Mac]
Comments: