Making the 'Moaning Lisa'

Multimedia artists Matt Ganucheau and Kyle Machulis have designed a female mannequin that uses strategically placed sensors to control audio playback. The mannequin, affectionately named Moaning Lisa, was unveiled at the recent <cnet:link externalURL="http://www.monochrom.at/arse-elektronika/about.html">Arse Elektronika</cnet:link> conference, as part of a showcase of emerging erotic-based technology. The following gallery includes images that may not be suitable for young viewers.

CNET Reviews staff

Oct. 8, 2007 11:53 a.m. PT

CNET Reviews staff

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It's amazing what you can find on Craigslist. Matt and Kyle obtained the Lisa mannequin for under $100 based on a Craigslist want ad for a giant-breasted mannequin.

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To mount a touch-plate sensor on Lisa's neck, Matt had to get a little physical. A hole in the back of Lisa's head was necessary for Matt to install motion sensors for eyes.

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Lisa's lower half has three sensors--two in the back (stars), and one in the front. Unlike the other sensors, Matt and Kyle chose to make the front sensor act as a nonlinear playhead marker within the Max/MSP software environment, allowing for Lisa's audio output to be scrubbed and scratched like a digital turntable.

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With sensors in both the upper and lower halves of Lisa, running wires to the Make controller hardware gets a little tricky.

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For the sake of convenience, Lisa's brains are located in her chest. The Make controller hardware routes eight sensors and a USB port through the mannequin.

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Matt demonstrates Lisa's "chest" controls for our cameraman. Each knob controls which set of the over 200 moans in Lisa's library become activated.

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Constructing your own foreplay robot may seem like a lot of work, but the real genius is programming the software. Matt's Max/MSP Moaning Lisa patch took over a year to develop and uses neural networking algorithms to make Lisa's interaction as nuanced and unpredictable as Matt's real life experiences.

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Motion sensors installed in Lisa's eyes allow her to detect nearby movement. When no motion is detected, Lisa has a tendency to take a nap.

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Lisa's hardware communicates to Matt's computer using a USB connection near her ankle. Because the Make controller inside Lisa is in open-source development, Matt and Kyle will use this USB connection to upgrade her firmware down the road.