Gallery: By Licking These Electric Ice Cream Cones, You Can Make Music
Photos by Emilie Baltz01lickestra-b
Designers [Carla Diana](http://carladiana.com/blog/) and [Emilie Baltz](http://www.emiliebaltz.com/) recently whipped up a musical performance where a quartet of players jammed using just a quart of vanilla ice cream.
Photos by Emilie Baltz02lickestra-c
Capacitive sensors were embedded in 3-D printed cones that were perched atop pedestal-like boxes and when a tongue made contact with the creamy treat, a signal was sent to a hidden Arduino, assigned a sound by onboard software, and was pumped out through speakers.
Photos by Emilie Baltz03lickestra-d
Vanilla was originally used, but the designers commissioned a custom flavor filled with Cayenne pepper. "We found that the heat of the spice in the ice cream elicited a much more vigorous licking action and inspired some rather gusto-filled performances," says Diana.
Photos by Emilie Baltz04lickestra-a
The exhibit has a humorous flavor, but was designed with serious intent. "The Lickestra was created to serve as an experiment in isolating a single gesture and understanding how one sense, such as taste, can be amplified by combining it with another sense, such as hearing," says Diana.
