a miniature vehicle follows the black line
photo by hitomi kai yoda

london-based product/sound designer yuri suzuki developed a new device : 'colour chaser'.
a miniature vehicle that detects and follows a black line whilst it reads crossing coloured lines and translates this RGB data into sound.
on show at tokyo's designtide exhibition, users could draw a randomly shaped circuit using a black marker pen on a piece of paper
and the colour chaser followed the line.



photo by hitomi kai yoda

users can then add different layers of colour across the black line at intervals.
the vehicle detects the colour RGB data and translates that into sound.


the car then plays the newly created track like a record player thanks to a built-in speaker
photo by hitomi kai yoda

different colours translate to different sounds.
the user can create what suzuki calls ' interesting soundscapes' through drawing different colours at different intervals.



oscar diaz and yuri suzuki at the designtide exhibition in tokyo
image © designboom



image © designboom



image © designboom




making music with colour chaser



in the venue, yuri shows designboom experiments with two different 'sound tracks' for the colour chaser



technical advice was given by dominic robson.
see a few earlier steps of the development here, here and here.


yuri suzuki
is a product designer and electronic musician who produces work that explores the realms of sound through exquisitely designed pieces.
sound interjection! is playful and interactive, encouraging the viewer to become part of the final design by creating sounds.
suzuki believes that not enough thought has been given to noises produced by everyday appliances, and began to include
sound-scapes in his products. yuri suzuki was born in tokyo in 1980. between 1999 and 2005 he worked for japanese design firm
maywa denki, where he developed a strong interest in music and technology. in 2005 he moved to london to study at the royal college
of art. during this time he worked on some projects for yamaha and moritz waldemeyer, and after his graduation in 2008 he opened
his own studio.