eyeFi

You've heard of visualizers that turn music into screen magic. Now get ready for the other way around.

eyeFi is a way of hearing your world with your iPhone camera. By 'feeling' out the world with the lens, you generate different music.

This is a revolution in music generation. By choosing what you point at -- modern paintings, dancing friends, moving cars, simple sidewalks, swaying trees -- you will generate rich combinations and opulent textures of musical sound.

Developed by two neuroscientists, this app is based on sensory substitution technology that was originally developed for blind people to be able to 'see' their world by auditory feedback. We decided to develop this technology into a musical entertainment version, allowing the auditory feedback to be more mysterious, melodious, beat-filled and beautiful. With this app, you substitute one sense for another.

Eyetunes features several soundscapes for you to mold with your camera, from hip hop to electronica to rock. Watch each soundscape's sliders move up and down, modulating the track volumes, as the scene changes. Press the music note to bring up the soundscape picker and press the note again to load the selected soundscape.

-Hints for use

Start by pointing it at something plain, like a white wall or floor and you shouldn't hear much. Now, walk around and point the camera at various scenes. Point it at yourself in the mirror. See what people in the coffee shop sound like. Listen to a dog's wagging tail. Point it at distant traffic. Get all your friends to dance in front of the camera and turn motion into music.

There’s no right answer. You generate your music by listening to your vision.

Disclaimer: This app is in no way intended to aid the blind in navigation or visual information extraction.

Acknowledgements:
@Kyle Ladewig for the name and his creative feedback