Melo Sense

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Only 10% of adults with autism are in the workforce, and Oregon has one of the highest autism rates in the country.  The University of Oregon DFA team has begun working with the Bridgeway House, a school dedicated to improving the lives of children with autism.

Dedicated to sharing the unique perspectives of those with autism as opposed to change them, this team is focused on increasing interaction between those with non-verbal forms of autism. The Melo is a wall mounted touch surface board, arranged in a grid pattern, and acts as a musical sequencer.   Children are able to activate certain squares on the grid, and as the sequencer loops from left to right it plays the notes that they have activated.  Squares lower on the board correspond to lower pitches and squares higher on the board represent higher pitches.  All notes on the board are in harmony with each other, so that it’s impossible to play a wrong note.  This provides an equal opportunity for everyone to easily make a beautiful phrase of music.   

UPDATE:

Melo has become a Dell Social Innovation Semi-Finalist!
Read their complete application and roadmap for success here.

THIS TEAM NEEDS A COACH! This team will be working on their project over the summer and are in need of technical, design, manufacturing and business expertise. Please check out their coaching opportunities here.

DFA Studio → University of Oregon  
Community Partner → Bridgeway House
Team Leads→ Mica Russo, Andre Brown
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