New Application Can Turn Your Boring iPhone Into A Theremin
10/10/2008 By Shane Sinnott

If you own an iPhone you now have the option of carrying an imitation Theremin around with you, as well as a cell phone, camera, iPod and GPS, among millions of other features, apparently. A company called Leisuresonic has designed the application, called Cosmovox, that uses the built-in accelerometer of the phone to make it play crazy tones when you wave it around.

The Theremin, known for sci-fi noises and the role it plays in the Beach Boys’ "Good Vibrations" and much of Jon Spencer’s early ouevre, is enjoying a bit of a resurgence as of late. Real ones have the distinction of being one of the only instruments you play without touching — you wave your hands around an antenna — but lately the fashion is to make them out of weird stuff, y'know, like your flippin' iPhone of all things.

If you visit this site you can even buy a kit to make a matchbook size solar Theremin in an Altoids tin that reacts to the angle and exposure of light you let in — and at ten bucks, it’s much cheaper than an iPhone.

Jon Spencer Theremin demonstration
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