Lara Grant’s Ruffletron – A Wearable Musical Interface

This is a functional demo of the sensors of textile designer Lara Grant’s Ruffletron, a wearable musical interface.

The Ruffletron is a prototype of a wearable musical interface and an experiment in performative interaction. The project was created in collaboration with Cullen Miller.

Grant notes:

To strive for simplicity, I asked myself – what is a recognizable shape or aspect of fashion design I can take and make interactive using electronics and DSP? I thought of the simple action of ruffling, well… a ruffle and worked to extend that action into something more interesting and performative.

From the neck I wanted to have an interface fall low enough to grab onto and manipulate. I imagined obtaining a range of values by curling and bending, while having a lock mechanism of some kind that would hold the position along the range of values for sustainment.

Project details at Grant’s site.

6 thoughts on “Lara Grant’s Ruffletron – A Wearable Musical Interface

  1. Cool stuff! I know Lara quite well (ex-roommate) and she’s been working towards this for 7 or 8 years, starting with LEDs in handbags. Glad to see she’s still at it!

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