Mindtunes with Smirnoff

A friend of mine posted a wonderful music video to my Facebook page yesterday. It’s a project called Mindtunes, where DJ Fresh and Dr. Julien Castet worked with three physically disabled musicians, Andy Walker, Mark Rowland and Jo Portois, to create a piece of music using only their minds. Dr. Julien Castet manages the technology, which utilizes Brain-Computer Interfaces that allow individuals to send commands to a computer via their brainwaves. Brain waves are detected, measured and related to their associated brain functions and emotions, which a computer programme can then read and respond to. Smirnoff has partnered with Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People and the goal is to raise funds for the charity by deriving revenue for downloads of this track.

All in all it’s a wonderful and worthy project with huge implications for music technology. Below is the full length video which goes behind the scenes of the project. It’s fascinating and well worth a watch.