In Rainbow Road, my classmate Sofia Hoek and I built two identical masks with which you can make music. By feeling your way around the rainbow road in the middle of the mask, light sensors are triggered and play a single note through the headphones on the inside of the mask. Each colour and texture corresponds with a different note.

This project was inspired by our mutual passion for music. Taking away your ability to see enhances the experience of feeling and touch. The mask guides your hands towards the Rainbow Road. The mask opens up possibilities for more people to be able to play music.

This video shows how the mask works. The overall look of the mask was inspired by Star Wars: The Mandalorian. That is why we chose the intro music of Star Wars in the video.

We chose various different textures for the outside of the mask. Each different texture on the rainbow road corresponds to a different music note. This way, you can actually learn and play a music piece. The reflective shards are pieces of CD's. We filed these pieces down so they won't cut your hands, but the difference in texture will guide your hands away from the rest of the mask and onto the rainbow road.

In the pictures above you can see the technological side of the project. We used Arduino with light sensors and used Max MSP to turn it into music.

Both the inside and the outside of the mask are completely painted black. The white tape you see in the picture above was also replaced with black tape. When wearing the mask, you're completely cut off from your surroundings. This enhances the sense of touch in your hands, which makes it easier to expierence the feeling of the mask.

If you would like to know more about the process of making the masks, click on the image on the right!