MeFi Projects

I created Solfetta because I wanted a convenient way to practice playing by ear on my phone that could help build associations between the music being played and Solfa symbols (you can also display intervals, or note names in any key). You can play what you want or use a library of well-known melodies to get started. The tuning can be changed to match any recording. Code (VanillaJS) is on GitHub.
posted by tomcooke on Jun 23, 2022 - 1 comment

AI Jukebox is a fascinating project from OpenAI that uses cutting-edge neural neworks to perform all sorts of musical magic -- it can take a clip of a song and continue it in a new way, sing text lyrics in any artist's voice, make a song sound like it's being sung by someone else. My favorite? Tell it to generate music by an artist without any other info, and it will produce a gibberish song with nonsense lyrics... that still sounds 100% real and just like the actual singer or band with their unique style. You can hear instruments, melodies, sometimes an audience, the breathing of the lead singer -- but the whole thing is generated completely from scratch by the AI, not with samples or digital sounds. It's not flawless -- some of the songs ramble, with glitchy effects or a mutating voice. But these just add to the vibe, like it's from a dream or a parallel universe. I went through their database to find the best examples of these tracks from the most famous artists, then turned them into an audio quiz on Sporcle -- complete with AI-generated art of the artists I made to serve as hints in the second round. How many of the artists can you name? [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi on Mar 7, 2022 - 2 comments

After a couple of months of work, we've finally launched this! It's a collection of short stories about the things that bring us joy, and the science behind them. Pairs well with headphones.
posted by Four String Riot on Jun 29, 2021 - 3 comments

a playful ghost story brought to life by the one-of-a-kind way you see the world. Working with friends and Canada's National Film Board, we spent the past three years trying to develop a new vocabulary for a kind of interactive novella and portable treasure hunt. It's a curious adventure about a ghost named September and you can explore all six chapters free on your phone.
posted by Marquis on May 28, 2020 - 1 comment

Thanks to AskMeFi I put a bowl of fruit on it and sold a piano on Craigslist. The buyer ended up composing an amazing song with it for my podcast. After 28 episodes of Man Afraid of Everything (from hailing a taxi to doing improv for a year) I’m excited to share this new workbook inspired by the show. Write, draw, and trash your way through a series of challenges designed to expand your comfort zone. [more inside]
posted by systematize on Sep 4, 2019 - 0 comments

I wrote a book! It’s a popular science book (no equations), and it’s called What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics. It’s about the 90-year-long struggle to decipher what quantum physics says about the true nature of the world around us. It’s my first book, and I’m still in shock that it’s done (and I'm really nervous about promoting it here). But apparently people like it: the New York Times called What is Real? “a thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science.” [more inside]
posted by freelanceastro on Jul 13, 2018 - 4 comments

Check out various stages of my new interactive sculpture tentatively titled "In The Dark." It's a mixed media piece that uses 3P Quick Cure Clay, glow powder, glass, water, algae, and black lights. It's approximately 5x14x5". These photos are from fairly early in the sculpture's life, and I hope the algae continues to grow thicker as time goes on. [more inside]
posted by vegartanipla on Jun 26, 2017 - 2 comments

An multimedia storybook and its inscrutable magazine, The Seers Catalogue is a world of weights and measures, strange encounters and necromantic cabals, where the key to all secrets is an obtuse and enthralling magazine. [more inside]
posted by Marquis on Oct 28, 2016 - 0 comments

Refugees and migrants have traveled over two billion miles to seek asylum in Europe this year. Follow the journeys yourself, and make choices along the way, in this interactive video narrative.
posted by takeyourmedicine on Nov 4, 2015 - 0 comments

An interactive magazine for interactive fiction. Previous authors include Vajra Chandrasekera, Porpentine, and Yoon Ha Lee. And Emily Short thinks we're cool! [more inside]
posted by AteYourLembas on Sep 1, 2015 - 0 comments

For this project, I took data from the National UFO Reporting Center and created an interactive map that lets you zoom into your area and see the UFO activity that has been reported (and sometime view photos / videos too). [more inside]
posted by mgalka on Jun 9, 2015 - 4 comments

An interactive map pinpointing the locations of everywhere in NYC that a movie was filmed, 2011 - 2013.
posted by mgalka on Apr 2, 2015 - 5 comments

I got a commission from Toronto's Soundstreams to make an experimental mobile site inspired by their new opera Airline Icarus. The result uses various fancy javascript video implementations to play around with interactive sound and video on mobile. Best viewed on mobile; it's a heavy site so your mileage / performance may vary.
posted by sixswitch on May 28, 2014 - 1 comment

For the last few months I've been helping a group of Artists/Engineers/puppet makers called Rusty Squid to design, make and install the Book Hive in Bristol Central Library, UK. There's more info on MyModernMet. [more inside]
posted by Drew Glass on Jan 10, 2014 - 2 comments

We just finished a documentary about some prosthetic instruments we designed for a collaborative dance and music performance. The instruments were designed by myself and Joe Malloch, another researcher at McGill University, and went on tour in Quebec and Europe in the spring. The basic idea was to create physical devices which would attach to the dancers' bodies in order to create opportunities for exploring movement and . Sensors incorporated in the devices send information to a computer, and the information is then used in the generation of computer music. There's more description on the webpage, and the video describing the design process and showing the instruments in use is on youtube. There's also a one-minute teaser vid in case the full video is TL;DW.
posted by ianhattwick on Jul 25, 2013 - 0 comments

An interactive installation using motors and the amazing, touch-reactive Mimosa Pudica plant, The Sensitive Screen is a hilariously slow-moving, living screen. When motors brush certain plants, the leaves collapse inwards -- these function as "off pixels" against the "on pixels" of the open plants. Since it takes about ten minutes for the plants to reopen, The Sensitive Screen moves at the blazingly fast speed of 6 frames per hour. A little more on the project can be found here.
posted by TheRoach on Nov 20, 2012 - 0 comments

A short interactive online documentary telling some segments of the life of a resident of Leith, Edinburgh. Having gone from respected high school teacher in Scotland to convicted cocaine smuggler in Guyana - these snippets show him as he begins to rebuild his life.
posted by sgt.serenity on Aug 30, 2012 - 3 comments

A web/interactive/music video by Yung Jake. [more inside]
posted by beanstshirt on Mar 15, 2012 - 0 comments

I spent five years making a graphical text adventure about cryptozoology. I cast actors*, created and photographed cryptids and (leveraging the magic of Creative Commons) listened to hundreds of hours of music until I had a 70-song soundtrack. I visited New Mexico twice to shoot on location and tried to make it as funny as possible -- as if Magnetic Scrolls were coming back any day now. It's called Cryptozookeeper, and while you can buy a two-disc pack, it's also available to download, in whole and for free, for Windows, Linux and OS X. [more inside]
posted by Ice Cream Jonsey on Aug 24, 2011 - 2 comments

A little interactive map to help compare the flood affected areas of Queensland, Australia to other countries of the world.
posted by gomichild on Jan 11, 2011 - 12 comments

I just developed this project for my agency. Invite someone to meet you under our virtual mistletoe. Enable your webcam and we'll capture some snapshots of the moment. It's still in beta right now, so the more people who try it out, the better!
posted by missjenny on Dec 15, 2010 - 1 comment