Touch responsive EL loudspeaker

a reverse built electroluminescent display


This experiment was set up following the accidental discovery of light and audio response to touch from electroluminescence during tests of reverse build EL on ephemeral materials.  The EL was printed in reverse to the normal process outlined here, with the silver electrode first printed on paper, followed by the dielectric, and phosphor. When we placed a piece of ITO coated polyester over the print and applied voltage to test the print, we were surprised to find that not only would the EL illuminate in response to pressure on the ITO electrode, but also an audible tone was produced.

The sound is the result of electroacoustic transduction. By separation of the two electrodes an electromagnetic field result, vibrating the EL module in the same frequency as the alternating current from the EL driver. The driver is rated to output between 340-810Hz, which is incidentally and audible frequency range.  The driver doesn’t have a fixed frequency, it’s based on the illuminated area of the EL. When the module is pressed, a larger area is illuminated resulting in reduced frequency from the driver and a lower in pitch in the audible tone.

The tone can be modulated to some extent using an audio input to control the power supply to the EL Driver as demonstrated towards the end of the video. This simple circuit could be used to impart a beat onto the tone, or produce some sound effects but isn’t adequate to produce say recognizable speech or music for the time being.

Institute
IAD Interaction Design, Zurich University of the Arts

Artist
Luke Franzke

Supervision
Karmen Franinovic

View Project

Institute
IAD Interaction Design, Zurich University of the Arts

Artist
Luke Franzke

Supervision
Karmen Franinovic

View Project

Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from - Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from - Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from - Google

info(at)materiability.com