A new app lets you explore the world with a child’s eyes once again

Somewhere, between childhood and adulthood, we start to look at the world differently. Over time we forget what it’s like to experience the world as a place filled with color and music the way we did as children. It’s a transition that can only be described as a shame.

“an instrument for exploring”

There are some who have not given up on adults’ ability to appreciate the world around them: Developer Linked by Air is trying to recapture this synesthesia of our youth through their new app, Bug, which reads colors from the world around you and translates them into tones.

Once you download Bug on your Apple device, any color around you can be scanned and turned into a note. Like our old Fisher-Price xylophones each color has a unique tone; Bug takes the average color read by the camera on your phone or tablet and plays a corresponding note as you press your finger to the screen.

According to Bug’s website, the notes were decided based on their frequency—red is the lowest frequency and note, violet is the highest, and so on. You can lay out items of specific colors to generate a crafted melody, or you can point your camera around your bedroom and investigate the song that’s already there. Bug calls their app “an instrument for exploring”; it’s a tool to find art in the commonplace and re-discover seeing the world the way we did as children.

Bug is currently available in the App store. For more information you can check out their website. Header image via Bug.