Marco Donnarumma’s Xth Sense Named World’s Most Innovative New Musical Instrument

Donnarumma of Edinburgh, UK, was awarded first prize for his instrument, Xth Sense, a biophysical, wearable technology that reacts to the vibrations of muscle tissue.

Excited muscle tissues vibrate in a way that resembles chords of an acoustic instrument—concrete oscillations are diffused through the flesh and, although inaudible to the human ear, they resonate in the air. Xth Sense captures this vibrational force and creates sonic clusters through a novel, free and open framework of hardware and software.