Have you ever been being chased by the police in a high-speed pursuit, when you really wish that the music on the radio would sync up to your erratic driving like an actual Hollywood action film? We certainly hope not. But, just in case, Volkswagen engineers in the UK have teamed up with electronic music act Underworld to design a program that will be able to provide a soundtrack based on the behavior of your car.
The project, titled "Play The Road" by Volkswagen, is run through an app being prepared for the iPhone. Newer models of the Volkswagen GTI feature on-board computers that are responsible for half the data, including speed and RPM. The phone-using its GPS receiver, accelerometer and gyroscope-to judge where the vehicle is and measure how quickly/sharply a driver turns. All of the data collected is instantly fed into the app, producing song. A burst of acceleration might draw drumlin-style percussion, and pitches change based on left or right turns.
In order to build the music, Underworld and crew had to design the composition like a "Choose Your Own Adventure Book," versus a linear song, so that regardless of the driver's decision, the music playing will be able to fall into line right from where it's at. Rick Smith, on of the members of Underworld, described professional driver Steve Gault as "a self-described non-musician [who] has done the most beautiful performances, just relentlessly." The idea being that someone good at driving could create great music using the app.
Hopefully not too great of music. Safe driving should probably come first in this instance.
Check out the video below:
