Simply put, build music with bricks. Playable Technology have developed an app that repurposes the ubiquitous resource of construction blocks (e.g. Lego) by leveraging the computing power of our smartphones and tablets. The app uses computer vision and AI to recognise blocks of different sizes and colours. When the app sees a brick it plays a sound. So when you build a sequence, you create music. It is a physical sequencer that loops every 8 beats. The onscreen location of each block is used to set the timing of a musical note, the colour is used to determine which instrument/sound to play, and the size determines the duration.
BeatBlocks combines cutting-edge advances in machine learning with Playable Technology’s extensive experience in children’s hands-on technology to create a new playground for building, creativity and music. BeatBlocks is available now on the App Store. The core technology has also been used to create an interactive installation – ‘Musical Building Blocks’, part of the ‘Turn it Up’ Exhibition for both the Science and industry Museum and the London Science Museum.
Use of AI: Silver