BAEN508 – PROTOTYPING – Vocal Light Collar – Prototype Demo Project – Kayle Mather, 73969140

Visualizing the Concept…

The vocal collar would sense the vibration or frequency/tone of the voice, and as specific notes or tones are hit, the collar would dim/brighten as one gets closer or further away from each tone, and as one changes from one tone to another tone, the light spectrum changes as well. This augmented visual queue allows for adaptive learning and long term memory archiving, as suggested by neurological research into brain pattern and color recognition and their association with music and mathematics.

Prototype Parts Required for Demo Purposes:

Power Module

RGD LED string

Vibration/Sound sensor

Fabric collar (with LED string woven in and vibration/sound sensor woven in as well)

Wire extension to chip box

Chip with processor, light control and modulation components

Fanny pack to hold power module and chip casing

After further discussion – resolution on key operational qualities:

The LED light strip, for the purposes of first draft presentation demo, should have a capability through the sequencing button or switch knob (calibrated click points), which toggles through the colors; preferably 7 as one would indicate each note through an octave. It would also be preferable to have the sequencing know or toggle switch to allow to move the colors forward and backward. A secondary control mechanism in the form of a dimmer dial or toggle would allow me to manually control the brightness of the LED strip as well. As one changes tones in the voice when they sing, their voice comes closer and further away from the solid whole tone, thus being indicated by the dimming or brightening of the vocal collar. Finally, again only for the purpose of this prototype draft, and on/off switch would be nice so when the person starts and stops singing, the LED light strip can be queued on or off accordingly.

Ultimately, each of these features mentioned above would be automated and tied directly to vocal tone (vibration sensing) through the neck from the vocal chords. Each color would represent a tone in an octave and so at any point through speech or singing, the intonation and change in pitch would swing through the color rainbow in and out freely like an alternating vibrant color waveform.

The Target Audience for this device is threefold:

·  Vocal coaches and students for singing lessons

·  Vocal Musicians

·  Festival goers

Main purpose:

·  Vocal training

·  Entertainment and fun feature to live performances

·  Cool wearable tech at parties that connects you to the music and other people visually

Subsidiary Target Market for further development and application:

·  Dogs for indicating barking and potentially what they might be saying, if frequencies and tones have audible matches to intended behaviors

·  Speech therapy

·  Medical diagnosis

·  Communication device for deaf and potentially deaf-mutes

Personal reasons for exploring augmented sound and light wearable technology:

·  I am a festival goer that wishes to build interactive sound and light suits (costumes); customizable for various audiences and events, and potentially stage performances

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