--- title: "Watch an AI Turn Music Into a Brain-Melting Visualization" description: "Belgium-based machine learning researcher and educator Xander Steenbrugge has developed a neural network AI that can turn music into trippy animations." date: "2019-11-01" modified: "2019-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-music-brain-melting" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "gan" - "generative adversarial network" - "machine learning" - "neural network" - "the digest" --- # Watch an AI Turn Music Into a Brain-Melting Visualization ![Belgium-based machine learning researcher and educator Xander Steenbrugge has developed a neural network AI that can turn music into trippy animations.]() *\Image: Xander Steenbrugge\* ## Neural Synesthesia Synesthesia is the rare condition when our senses melt together — some say they can hear colors, others that they can taste words. But what if we let the senses of an artificial intelligence overlap instead? Belgium-based machine learning researcher and educator Xander Steenbrugge has developed a neural network that can turn music into trippy visualizations. It's an impressive example of the synthesis between human-created artforms and AI algorithms. https://vimeo.com/369531132 ## Making Music Steenbrugge's project, called "Neural Synesthesia," makes use of a generative adversarial network. That's a type of machine learning system that specializes in generating new data from a given training set. They've been used in a wide variety of ways: from cooking up [photorealistic images of faces](), [grotesque cats](), and even [anime character generators](). https://youtu.be/K-AmcJhqV7w ## AI Collaboration "This project is an attempt to explore new approaches to audiovisual experience based on Artificial Intelligence," wrote Steenbrugge in a description of his project. " I do not create these works, I co-create them with the AI models that I bring to life." First, Steenbrugge feeds an AI algorithm a basic dataset of images, then trains the model to replicate their visual style. Finally he allows the AI to twist and blend the visuals based on parameters Steenbrugge pulls out of different audio sources using a "custom feature extraction pipeline." "The AI does not fully create the work, and neither do I. It is very much a collaboration," adds Steenbrugge. **More on GANs:** *[Amazing AI Generates Entire Bodies of People Who Don’t Exist]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()