Drexel University students create invention that translates vocals into visual art

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- At Drexel University, Music Industry students met with Engineering students to create a new invention.

It's a machine that translates vocals into a visual piece of art.

"We had a class in January...to prototype some of these ideas. It pulls out information from the voice...pitch frequencies, amplitude, volume, and then it translates that into physical movements on a machine that are then actually etching or scribing away on a piece of plexiglass that's been coated with paint," said Vice Provost of University & Community Partnerships at Drexel University, Yungmoo Kim.

This project was requested by Opera Philadelphia, and the students were able to bring it to life.

"The ExCITe Center at Drexel University. This is the place we bring together people from different backgrounds, from the artistic fields like visual arts, like music, but also from technical fields like engineering and computer science and many other fields. To do some really, really amazing things," said Kim.

For more information, check out the video above.

Also, check out their website