Licking electrified ice cream spurs musical orchestra

Emilie Baltz and Carla Diana have been researching what has never been done before: making music from food. They began researching how to integrate sound into food by placing sensors into the “interactive edibles.”  Playfully naming their project The Lickestra, the designers created a musical ice cream licking extravaganza, perfect for gourmands and tech geeks alike.

From investigative research, Baltz and Diana determined that ice cream was the most suitable food choice to be equipped with sensors. The ice cream cones were 3D-printed, laced with internal capacitive sensors, and then bolted onto an electrical box. The hidden Arduino circuit board was activated as soon as the users’ tongues hit the electrified ice cream. The musicians stood by the boxes and licked at the ice cream to make music. The board runs its data into a computer that contains various previously assigned melody loops and beats, controlling how the sound is emitted through the software. All music is then delivered through external speakers. The different tones that are emitted by licking the ice cream are contingent on where exactly the cones are licked. 

The artistic duo worked with Arone Dyer to prerecord a four-part composition of wintery, cold, and icicle-induced sounds. The users participating in this project would create music by licking the cone in alternating directions.

Baltz and Diana used a custom spicy cayenne flavor, so the taste’s heat could prompt a more active licking pattern. In a statement, Diana proclaimed that this “vigorous licking action [provided] some rather gusto-filled performances.”

The project will eventually expand to involve more foods. “We had sonic marzipan that could be smooshed, audible cocktails that could be sipped through conductive straws, and metal forks and spoons that would trigger tones when used to pierce food,” Diana stated. “We discovered that the experiences that triggered sound through interaction with the tongue, teeth and mouth were the most magical and surprising, so we decided to focus on that for our public performances.”

The Lickestra quartet premiered their performance at the Visible Futures Lab. At the artistic powerhouse venue in NYC, Specials on C, The Lickestra will perform on selected days.

Story via Wired