Casio’s expressive guitar strap controller was inspired by a chopstick case

Surprise! Casio has something unexpected — Dimension Shifter, a spring-powered expressive wireless controller that attaches to your guitar strap. And it was the invention of one employee, inspired by his kid’s school-lunch retracting chopstick and cutlery case.

Lethelium, a 24-string instrument fashioned from a bicycle wheel

You can pluck it, strike it, bow it, use your fingers, use a pick. The Lethelium is upcycled from bicycle parts and imagined in a cycle-punk zombie comic where bike parts save civilization. And all of this could only come from the imagination of Montreal artist Lateef Martin, an artist who lives a sci-fi reality others might only dream of. Or as Lateef puts it: “it reinvents the wheel.”

Peter Kirn - December 2, 2025

Noise Surround System makes spatial audio kinetic, mechanical

To tackle the issue of noise pollution, Warszawa’s panGenerator brought immersive, spatial sound to the philharmonic. But they didn’t make that spatial audio virtual: tracks, skateboard motors, and speakers on karts put this installation into physical motion.

Peter Kirn - February 27, 2025

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