SonoCube: A Handheld Motion-Responsive Sound Object

Szymon Walendowski, and Akito van Troyer

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

SonoCube is a self-contained handheld sound object that produces generative ambient music controlled through physical interaction. The 70mm cube responds to touch, motion, and orientation: capacitive touch triggers melodic patterns, while shaking, tilting, and rotating modulate delay, reverb, and filter parameters. A dual-microcontroller architecture separates sensing from audio synthesis, with an Adafruit QT Py handling IMU data processing and a Teensy performing DSP. The device runs on battery power with an integrated speaker, requiring no external equipment. This paper presents the design rationale, technical implementation, and preliminary observations from user interactions, exploring how ambient synthesis can support continuous gestural interaction within a minimal handheld form. The case study examines how reducing interface elements to motion and touch interacts with ambient synthesis, and reports preliminary observations on user interaction.

Citation

Szymon Walendowski, and Akito van Troyer. 2026. SonoCube: A Handheld Motion-Responsive Sound Object. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784269 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_87,
 abstract = {SonoCube is a self-contained handheld sound object that produces generative ambient music controlled through physical interaction. The 70mm cube responds to touch, motion, and orientation: capacitive touch triggers melodic patterns, while shaking, tilting, and rotating modulate delay, reverb, and filter parameters. A dual-microcontroller architecture separates sensing from audio synthesis, with an Adafruit QT Py handling IMU data processing and a Teensy performing DSP. The device runs on battery power with an integrated speaker, requiring no external equipment. This paper presents the design rationale, technical implementation, and preliminary observations from user interactions, exploring how ambient synthesis can support continuous gestural interaction within a minimal handheld form. The case study examines how reducing interface elements to motion and touch interacts with ambient synthesis, and reports preliminary observations on user interaction.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {87},
 author = {Szymon Walendowski and Akito van Troyer},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784269},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {4},
 pages = {736--739},
 title = {SonoCube: A Handheld Motion-Responsive Sound Object},
 track = {paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_87.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}