Sarah Kim

The Broen Tools are a result of an exploration of physical and metaphorical interactions with digital sounds and control systems, bringing tangible aspects to an increasingly digital medium.

The Broen Tools introduce tangible musical interfaces for children, that deploy various brush tools as controls to trigger expressions in different digital sounds. The Tools work with a software through which children can compose and perform their own music. 

The tools are triggered by being put to physical surfaces in ways such as brushing, tapping, scratching and rolling — which all manipulate different acoustic sounds and trigger visualization of said sound on the software. The expressions of acoustic sounds from Broen Tools are affected and determined by the way children physically interact with the tools and the physical nature of surfaces and objects touched. The Broen Tools are a set of intuitive and accessible musical tools that promote physical interaction with technology, providing acoustic and visual feedbacks as result.