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A fish-shape musical instrument that spouts water jets into which users dip their fingers is being hailed as an example of a new user interface. The instrument, called a hydraulophone, involves putting your fingers on tiny water jets and producing a soothing, organ-like music.

“What we really do with these kind of interfaces is make them as addictive as possible, and to do that we have to find a way you can exert your own influence on a system,” Professor Steve Mann of the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering told attendees at the Singularity Conference in San Francisco last weekend. “It can be a very absorbing experience.”

Professor Mann has been billed as the world’s first cyborg. For about 30 years now he has been wearing some sort of wearable computing device, including an Eyetap, a pair of glasses that allows the eye to function as a camera, as well as digital systems monitoring his heart and brain. These devices are part of a world he calls computer-mediated reality.

Follow the link to read the full article on Wired.com.

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