Spotify and Pandora have made music-purchasing ephemeral, and Apple's EarPods are nearly invisible save for their telltale white wires, but Daniela Mata—a Portuguese design student, has developed a new sound system that returns some of music's lost physicality. Her Pop-Up Bass speakers provide an animated accompaniment to auditory experience. A potpourri of styrofoam balls sits on top of the system's subwoofer and when the music starts, the lightweight orbs dance around in a glass chamber. "The aim of this project is to convert music into something observable," she says. "Providing not only an auditory effect but also a visual experience."
Jawbone's Jambox and a variety of Sonos systems have attempted to bring high design back to hi-fi audio equipment, but those designs are focused on their appearance while Mata is focused on shaping the music. "I tried to seek simplicity emphasizing only the parts capable of transmitting visual and functional emotions," she says.
There is no shortage of cool ways to visualize music, but almost all of them require a software layer. Mata's solution is purely analog. "In my opinion, the aesthetic of a product comes from its capability of being comprehensive and simple to use."
Pop-Up Bass will work with any type of music, but to get the most out of the system choose an album with a pumping bassline over an NPR newscast. Mata has no plans to produce the product, but don't be surprised to see copycats popping up on Kickstarter soon.
