SCRATCH BELT (aka “houlaled”)

Scratch Belt is a led-strip based belt that realistically simulates the dynamics of a pendulum attached to your hip, or similarly, the dynamics of the “houla-hoop” – all with light. This contraption evolves from a the older “inertial light” devices used in the “Light Arrays” project; in this new prototype, however, angular data is sent wirelessly to the computer (bluetooth), where it is taken as input to an Max-Msp “groove” patch. The wearer can then “scratch” over pre-recorded sound files by contorting and dancing.A counter also keeps track of the number of turns, and this data can be logged on your smartphone, making it a fun alternative to the podomoter.

More to come (code, hardware and Instructables page in the making).