The Translation Machine: Exploring Interspecies Sound with Honeybees
Artist and technologist Daric Gill has spent years building experiential sculptures that bridge biology, sound, and interactivity. His latest project — The Translation Machine — continues that exploration by creating an acoustic dialogue between humans, global environments, and Apis mellifera, the Western honeybee.
What happens when you combine woodworking, global field recordings, custom electronics, and real honeycomb? Artist and technologist Daric Gill set out to explore that question in his latest interactive sculpture, "The Translation Machine" — a sound installation that uses honeycomb as a natural resonator for human–bee co-creation. If you’re into interactive bio-inspired installations, this will be right up your alley.
Gill built the piece around a SparkFun MP3 Player Shield, paired with an Arduino Uno R3, a PIR motion sensor, and a sonar distance sensor (we don't carry the PIR and sonar sensors he used, but you can find similar ones on our site). As visitors move closer to the sculpture’s hexagonal chambers, the audio — routed directly through honeycomb — organically shifts and amplifies.
It blends art, biology, and open-source hardware, and we’re excited to share the Gill's story.
Read the full success story here:
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