Texture Wave
a tactile wave-table technology for digital music interfaces that facilitates the altering of timbre, physically.
It is the result of a collaborative investigation of the applications of shape memory polymers - plastics that can stretch into any shape and return to their original shape above a certain temperature - as part of a class on Smart Materials (Fall 2019).
How does it work?
The Shape Memory Polymer can be made into a sheet (of any dimension) and fixed to a frame at the edges.
When pressed, the polymer surface stretches and crystallizes slowly, locking in its shape. The resulting hand-pressed topology/waveform is continuously scanned and translated digitally into a timbre (the character / texture of a sound).
The sheet can be turned flat again simply by applying heat to any area that is deformed. This material property of ‘resetting’ itself is unique to the ‘Shape Memory’ family of materials (shape memory polymers or alloys).
Timbre is the property of sound that makes the same note on different instruments sound unique.
The dynamic manipulation of the S.M.P. surfaces requires cooling (to crystallize the polymer - ‘freeze’ it) and heating (to melt the crystals / release the chemical bonds).
‘Cold’ hand pressing![]()
The cooling is provided by forced convection of a continuously flowing cold fluid (water, if cold enough, is accessible and safe). preferrably under the interaction surface (to keep the user’s hand dry) but alternatively it could be flowing on the top of the surface (like rain on a windshield). The polymer can crystallize at room temperature but introducing contact with a cold fluid accelerates the process - allowing for a quicker manipulation of the sound.
The cooling is provided by forced convection of a continuously flowing cold fluid (water, if cold enough, is accessible and safe). preferrably under the interaction surface (to keep the user’s hand dry) but alternatively it could be flowing on the top of the surface (like rain on a windshield). The polymer can crystallize at room temperature but introducing contact with a cold fluid accelerates the process - allowing for a quicker manipulation of the sound.
‘Hot-glove’ hand pressing (doesn’t lock shape / resets it)
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When a crystallized area gets heated above a certain temperature, it will return to it’s original shape (flat, in the case of a sheet).
The heat can be provided by a heated glove that allows the user to selectively reset certain portions of the polymer sheet. Alternatively it can come from a handheld heater (like a hair-dryer), or simply from having a tap that can change the water from cold to hot (although this would eliminate the user’s ability of ‘resetting’ specific zones).
When a crystallized area gets heated above a certain temperature, it will return to it’s original shape (flat, in the case of a sheet).
The heat can be provided by a heated glove that allows the user to selectively reset certain portions of the polymer sheet. Alternatively it can come from a handheld heater (like a hair-dryer), or simply from having a tap that can change the water from cold to hot (although this would eliminate the user’s ability of ‘resetting’ specific zones).
Exploring form
-the original shape does not really have to be flat
The (front-end/UX) Design goals:
- for the studio musician: To create a more tactile, involved and intuitive digital music interface
- for the performer: To better visualize to others how he interaction with his sonic palette
- for the audience: To create a space that inspires and invokes the audience’s imagination
The (back-end/technical) design goals:
- to appropriately employ the properties of S.M.P. to create an instrument that otherwise could not exist.
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To provide quick crystallization / high cooling (to serve UX)
- An accurate method of reading surface and appropriate value-mapping.