A printed touch sensitive poster that can play music through mobile devices has been deployed as part of a Schwartz spices advertising campaign. The Feel Flavour posters, developed with advertising agency Grey London, represent the first commercial application of technology developed by Novalia, the technology company founded by Dr Kate Stone, recently featured in InAVate magazine.
Billie Jean, a conceptual illustrator, created a visual articulation of taste with herbs and spices, depicted in his visual work, each assigned a musical chord.
The Novalia capactive touch technology is used to add an interactive surface to the poster, which is connected to an application on a smartphone. Touching the artwork triggers the assigned chords to make music.
Andy Lockley, creative director at Grey London, said: “We’ve basically created an app that’s made out of paper. Pair the poster with a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and your device effectively becomes a mobile speaker.
“Sixteen different herbs and spices have been translated into musical chords and the conductive inks on this poster enable you to explore those sounds with your fingers.â€
Dr Kate Stone, founder of Novalia, said: “Conductive ink is a prototype technology that puts the same type of capacitive touch screen you have in a smart phone or tablet into plain old paper – effectively breathing new life into what many believe is a dying medium. Schwartz is the first brand to use this technology in a commercial application.â€
Read interview with Dr Kate Stone in InAVate magazine