MTFLabs

This is bugged out. Go watch it... "At the heart of the #MTFLabs was singer Riikka Hänninen whose incredible voice spans traditional Finnish folk to hard rock. Blind from birth, Riikka was central to the experimentation and showcase of new ideas for accessible music technology, neurofeedback control of sound and visuals: a performance that wove the 19th century Finnish epic poem The Kalevala together with microprocessors, sensors and a live collaboration with cyborg and lab director Jasmine Isdrake.

"The team from MuArts, who combine EEG brainwave readers with performing arts, created a playable musical instrument adapted from clinical trials for people with anxiety disorders to recognise the pattern when their brain activity changes so they can train to control it. Most so-called ‘able-bodied’ people required at least 2 hours of training to be able to hit a particular note.

"On the second day of the lab Riikka put the neurofeedback device on her head and she was able to play. Instantly.

"The neuroscientists had never seen this before and a penny dropped in the room: a person who is, in a traditional sense, considered to have a serious disability, is, in terms of brain-computer interfaces, far more able-bodied than a so-called able-bodied person...."

More on Music Tech Labs here.