Can light be used only for illumination? What if it could become a means of transmitting information? Is it possible to “listen” to light? Smusic is the first toy that employs the interaction with light to produce sound. The toy has been developed with the light technology company Slux and our network of partners . Smusic is a new-generation toy, to listen to the natural sound of photons! Through sound, children can learn about the photons that make up light all around us. Smusic is a technological experience, with a scientific taste, that gets children away from screens, out into the world to become “explorers of light“.
As children learn to fine-tune their movements with more mastery, they can create melodies in different locations and different sources of light, each with its own characteristic sound.
Smusic is ideal for children aged 6 to 11 and promotes cooperative play. In short, it is a toy with innovative and technological features that appeal to today’s children. This fun, pocketable toy stimulates curiosity and imagination.
We gave Smusic a playful yet cool look because we wanted kids to feel its empowering potential, to feel it as something personal, precious and yet solid to be brought anywhere. The first colours we are introducing are Sparkling Blue and Sunset Yellow, both suitable for boys and girls …and more versions are yet to come.
Smusic reacts to any light source, either natural or artificial. That’s when magic happens! A light bulb, a halogen lamp, a neon sign, and an LED light turn into different sound feedbacks. And that’s not all – you can use any light at all: even a candle, fireflies, a ray of light shining through a hole into a house… Each will make a unique sound. This makes Smusic very engaging and exploratory, even suitable for multi-player music sessions.
Thanks to the different levels of play Smusic has a durable play pattern that can be improved over time. We think that this is a requirement that guarantees a long life of the play, thus justifying the use of plastic in a vision of durability and sustainability.
Smusic comes with a selected set of features in order to make it as intuitive, ergonomic and accessible as possible. Two switches provide two different ways to play: a press & release button, and an on/off switch. They are both useful either in the exploratory play or in the performative play. The press & release button activates the sound as you press it and deactivates the sound when you release. The on/off switch allows you to keep the sound activated all the time.
This is a musical toy, and we have given a lot of attention to the volume. We have designed a toy with a plug for earphones for private sessions and to play in complete silence.
Smusic has been launched on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in December 2018 and engaged us not only on all technical aspects of product design and development, costs and CMF but also on all aspects of art direction for video and photo shootings along with communication and marketing through social media platforms for the crowd making.
Below the interview at Fabio Guaricci, designer of Smusic, at launch of the campaign.
SMUSIC on FACEBOOK SMUSIC on INSTAGRAM
Client: Slux
