In order to reach a truly new audience, we decided to target a group of people who never listened to classical music in all their lives: the 80.000 deaf people in Germany. We wanted them to somehow experience classical music too. Since it couldn’t be through sound, we decided to use touch sensations instead.

That’s how the idea of the Sound Shirt was born – a wearable device that translates music into nuanced vibrations in real-time.

To bring the Sound Shirt to life, we worked closely with CuteCircuit London. With our creative vision and their knowledge in wearable tech, we managed to develop the Sound Shirt within 6 months.

In a first field test, several deaf people tried it and were amazed by this new kind of musical experience. Their overwhelmingly positive feedback convinced us to make the Sound Shirt available for deaf people at all our future concerts.

This is how it works: The sound from eight different types of instruments (violins, double bass, horns, etc.) is picked up by microphones on stage. A multi-channel audio interface delivers the sound to a computer where custom software translates the sound into data. The data is sent wirelessly to the Sound Shirt using a Q antenna. Sewn-in to the fabric of the shirt are 16 micro actuators that vibrate with the exact intensity of the music.

The results so far are several deaf people who have experienced a live concert of the Junge Symphoniker Hamburg. That alone already makes this idea a success. Of course we will use the shirt at all future concerts to let as many deaf people as possible have this unique experience. We are also considering producing even more shirts so that we can invite more than one deaf person per concert.

For now, the Sound Shirt will be available exclusively at our concerts which will promote the Junge Symphoniker Hamburg not just among the deaf but also among the hearing fans of classical music.

We expect strong media coverage once the Sound Shirt is officially announced. After all, it has the potential to change the lives of deaf people for the better.

We created a technology that might change the way deaf people all over the world think about music: The Sound Shirt. A wearable device that lets deaf people experience music through touch sensations. And it has the potential to not only make the Junge Symphoniker Hamburg famous, but to forever change the lives of deaf people for the better.

The Junge Symphoniker Hamburg is a young orchestra that wants to share its passion and turn as many people as possible into fans of classical music.

To get more people interested in classical music while also making a lasting impression on existing fans of classical music, we needed a bold idea that makes the Junge Symphoniker Hamburg stand out from the crowd of established German orchestras.