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Biophilia takes a Björk approach to app building

09/24/11  |  Posted by Amber Luning  |  Posted in Digital Canvas - Apps & Accessories

Björk is one of the strangest and most respected artists of our time. the small adorable icelandic girl has won Grammys, Golden Globes, and one Oscar nomination. Her voice is strange and beautiful and a little creepy, just like her music. And now she has turned her attention to the iPad. Biophilia is an app and an album. The app serves as a launching point or mother app, for a number of smaller apps that each correspond to a track off the album. The mother app interface is gorgeous, a swirling cosmos of multicolored stars, navigable by touch. Some of these stars are labeled, and some glow in color. When you zoom into a colored labeled star, it opens the corresponding app for that song. These apps, while nested inside a large one are by no means "mini apps". They're fully realized interactive musical visual experiences for users to play with and create. There are only three app/songs released so far, but more are scheduled to come out very soon.  As for the ones that are out, it's best to cut to the video. Virus Virus plays by stopping the viruses from invading the cell and its neighbors. However, if you stop the viruses, you stop the song. Crystalline Crystalline implores you to navigate (by turning your ipad) a srystal structure through a series of tunnels, collecting other crystals. Moon Moon is more of an interactive song. By changing the phases of the moon, the song is altered, and by playing with the smaller moons or pearls along either side, one can add arpeggios and harmony to the original track. So far, Biophilia is impressive, beautiful and exciting. Bjork has set a standard for iPad-released music that I certainly hope others will follow. Even if you're not a big Björk fan, the app is certainly worth a look. the games are addictive, and the work really shows the potential of the iPad in the creative, interactive, and musical worlds. Björk: Biophilia in the iTunes store - FREE ($1.99 each in-app purchases)

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