These MIDI Music Hats by Sunny Oh and Anna Obikane are an unusual interactive form of musicianship. The wool hats are embedded with pressure-sensitive sensors and LED lights, inviting friends or passersby to touch spots on your head to create MIDI music.
The hats themselves feature a tall woolen spike not unlike a unicorn horn. Although this design feature will probably prohibit the MIDI Music Hats from becoming a mainstream fashion accessory, they still represent a compelling innovation in tactile technology.
The wires in the hat feed into an Arduino Lilypad, which then connects into a computer to produce the MIDI music. Whether you'd actually wear these hats or not, you have to concede that electronic fashion is developing at a breakneck pace.
Interactive Cranial Instruments
Touch-Sensitive MIDI Music Hats Are a Bizarre Way to Play Songs
Trend Themes
1. Interactive Fashion - The MIDI Music Hats demonstrate a trend towards interactive fashion that engages multiple senses.
2. Tactile Technology - The pressure-sensitive sensors and LED lights in the hats highlight the trend of incorporating tactile feedback into interactive devices.
3. Electronic Accessories - The MIDI Music Hats reflect the emerging trend of wearable electronic accessories that combine fashion with technology.
Industry Implications
1. Fashion - The fashion industry can explore the disruptive innovation opportunity of integrating interactive and tactile elements into their designs.
2. Technology - The technology industry can explore the disruptive innovation opportunity of creating more interactive and sensor-based accessories.
3. Music - The music industry can explore the disruptive innovation opportunity of developing new ways for musicians to interact with their instruments and create music.