| eSonic: Interactive Musical Toy for Children I have always been captivated with the idea of an autonomous music composition. Leveraging my knowledge of hardware and software engineering and with the help of Oklahoma-State electrical engineering student to design Joe Hershberger I have designed and actually build an electronic device deemed as an interactive musical toy for children. Outfitted with Analog Devices PIC18-series microcontroller the device composes and synthesizes four-channel music (drums, base and two melodic lines) in real time. Equipped with 8 push-buttons, 2 twist-knobs and 32 LED lights the device allows customizing music being synthesized while dazzling you with captivating light patterns. The device have been successfully pitched to Hasbro Toy Group, which kept is and studied for the whole month. As the fate would have it 9/11 terrorist attack ruined the sure deal prompting Hasbro to refrain from expanding their toy line. So, while my 7-year old son plays with the toy I am still looking for opportunities for commercial development of the product. Feel free to email me your inquiries or propositions. Click here to listen to sample eSonic music. Read my Real-Time Music Synthesis & Embedded Applications article at Dr. Dobbs Journal (vol. 201, January 2002)! |