Bubble Tunes
The final product
User testing with a preliminary prototype
I worked with a team of students as a part of MIT's Toy Product Design class to create Bubble Tunes, an innovative music-teaching tool that releases bubbles from a set of eight tubes as music is played. Each tube is mapped to one note in an octave, and the same tube is triggered by that note in each octave. An invaluable teaching tool, Bubble Tunes both provides valuable feedback and enhances enjoyment of the learning process. The product can be connected to an electric keyboard, guitar, iPhone, or any other device with an audio jack.
We focused primarily on the nozzles placed at the top of each pipe, which would produce the bubbles. Bubble liquid, continually pumped up the pipes, gathers in a small pool at the top around a central hole. Fans at either end of the large, light blue tub containing the bulk of the bubble liquid provided air flow, pushing air through the holes at the center of each nozzle attachment. After several iterations, we successfully designed a swiping mechanism, activated by the press of a key, that created a film across the central hole. With every swipe, the air pushing through the tube creates a bubble.
We presented the final product to a group of professors, peers, and leaders in the toy industry.
Press: MIT News
Group Project: Team Member, Treasurer
Spring 2015
Drawings by Julia Rue, CAD image courtesy of Travis Libsack