In a pioneering move that blends cutting-edge technology with raw human emotion, a team of researchers in Massachusetts has developed a project called Convergence, where heart rate signals are turned into music in real time. This jaw-dropping fusion of art and science,developed at one of the National Endowment for the Arts’ leading research labs, featured a mesmerizing live performance with 14 dancers, each wearing ECGs that transmitted their heart rate signals directly into a musical composition system. The result? A performance that
captivated audiences and later became the subject of a documentary.
The journey to this technological marvel took months of painstaking work. Between September 2022 and February 2023, the team developed ECGs equipped with wireless transmitters that sent heart rate data to MATLAB. The signals were filtered and processed before being converted into MIDI, a digital communication protocol that translates musical information. From there, the team used MAX/MSP, an industry-standard tool for music production, to turn those signals into sound, transforming each dancer’s heartbeat into a unique musical note. But as Priya Atiyolil, the project’s lead researcher, recalls, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds. “The signal processing was… a process,” she says. “Imagine a cacophony of random instruments blaring in your ear. A heart rate of 82 plays a sharp trumpet while a heart rate of 83 plays a hippy’s lyre the next minute. That’s what would have happened if we didn’t spend as much time as we did on parallel and Huffman encoding, frequency division multiplexing, and improvising the MIDI code. ” It was a meticulous process that required constant adjustments to make sure the final sound felt both organic and intentional.
As if the innovation wasn’t enough, the project caught the attention of the United States Congress, which issued Priya “Special Congressional Recognition” for her contributions to the intersection of technology and the arts. When Convergence premiered on February 2, 2023, tickets sold out within hours, and it quickly became clear that this wasn’t just another performance; it was a game-changer. The audience was swept away by the sound of human bodies becoming instruments, with each heartbeat generating a distinct melody that felt as though the performers were creating music with every move. The project not only pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in performance art but opened the door to an entirely new way of experiencing music.
Convergence offers a glimpse into a future where technology and artistry seamlessly intertwine. By transforming the human heartbeat into music, the project redefines the possibilities of live performance, pushing boundaries and challenging the way we think about both science and creativity. It’s a revolutionary step forward, showing that when the body becomes the instrument,music is no longer just heard; it’s felt.
