A Piece Of Cloth That Conjures Light And Sound

Luiz Zanotello envisions fabric as interface. With the right flourish, a simple piece of fabric can be dazzling. Just think about the people who twirl flags in parades, or the matadors who dodge peril with a graceful swoosh of their capes. Of course, to do these things well requires practice. But in general, cloth is a highly accessible medium--pretty much anyone with bath towel or a T-shirt can swirl, swoosh, or dangle with proficiency (though if you’re really so inclined, maybe try jumping in the parade before the bullring). Luiz Zanotello, a Brazilian designer, mined fabric’s innate approachability for a recent project, building a sensor-equipped cloth that can serve as a musical instrument and generate its accompanying visualizations. Nama was created as Zanotello’s graduation project at São Paulo State University, in Brazil. The device takes the form o...