COGOO TURNTABLE RIDER

To introduce a bike sharing service in Japan, Cogoo collaborated with a BMX pro rider, a DJ and a creative team to transform a bike into a soundsystem. Marvel at the results...

Video: Turntable Rider created by Cogoo 

We’ve seen a few imaginative ‘hacks’ using technology such as Microsoft Kinect, but this has to be one of the most imaginative uses of technology to transform an everyday object into a musical instrument.

Japanese bike sharing service Cogoo has created a system called “Turntable Rider” that transforms a BMX bicycle into an elaborate MIDI controller. The system includes a fader box that you attach to the handlebars, a jog wheel stick attached to the bike’s wheel valve and two handbrake sound pads.

The controls communicate through wireless Bluetooth with a DJ software, Traktor, to choose the tracks being played via a device like an iPod.

Commissioned by Cogoo, turntablist DJ Baku, professional BMX rider Kotaro Tanaka and interactive artist Toshiyuku Sugai collaborated to develop the system.

Toshiyuki Sugai, says: “In making ‘Turntable Rider’the biggest design challenge was not simply to make a device and attach it, but to make a computer device that mixes well with street culture and is fun to play. When designing the parts, I made sure they blend into the cultures of BMX and DJ.”

The concept behind the Turntable Rider was to spread to the world, the pleasure of sharing a bike. Currently, they have only developed prototypes, but if they get enough ‘Likes’ on their Facebook page, the company will consider it for mass production. The new system will make its debut at the Kaikoo Popwave Festival 2012

Cogoo is a bicycle sharing service in Japan that allows anyone to borrow a bike anywhere, and return it anywhere, inspired by similar bike sharing programmes in Europe where they are used on a large scale in cities and has become an alternative means of transport to CO2 emitting cars. Cogoo’s mission is to improve the transport system in Japan and began field trials in the Japanese city of Yokohama in April 2012.

Image: Japanese BMX professional Kotaro Tanaka