Disposable vapes are a scourge on modern society, polluting our lungs and our landfills with dangerous chemicals – but an enterprising team of academics based in New York has found a novel way to tackle the rapidly growing environmental hazard they represent.
Instead of tossing their vapes in the recycling bin, the creators of the Vape Synth are taking the recycling process into their own hands, pulling the guts out of their vapes and transforming them into mini-wind synthesizers in a stroke of DIY genius – and they’ve produced a detailed guide that shows you how to make your own.
The Vape Synth is a tiny, breath-activated synthesizer inspired by an ocarina – but to play this electronic ocarina, you don’t exhale, you inhale, as if you’re puffing away on the vape.
The instrument uses the original batteries, charging circuit, LED and case from an Elf Bar vape, repurposing its low pressure sensor to activate an oscillator circuit that’s been squeezed inside. A handful of photoresistors act as buttons that change the synth’s frequency, and a tiny 2.5W speaker provides the sound. (Skip to 14:36 in the video below to hear the Vape Synth in action – you won’t regret it.)
Speaking of the sound, it’s not exactly what we’d call “musical”; it’s closer to the screech of a demented cicada than the soaring tones of a CS-80. But, as co-creator Kari Love writes on Instagram, the sound isn’t really the point. The Vape Synth is intended to be a “a portal into sustainability, creative opportunity, and technical education empowerment” – and a good laugh, of course.
Working under the name Paper Bag Team, Love, David Rios and Shuang Cai are hoping to draw attention to the environmental impact of e-waste with the Vape Synth project. “They’re this huge e-waste product,” Love told Wired in a recent interview. “You see them everywhere. They have the lithium ion batteries, which makes them particularly insidious in the disposable tech world.”
“This process is upstream salvage,” Cai adds. “The idea is not that we want to use this as a solution to the existing status quo, but to use this to call for attention and encourage more creative action on these kinds of issues.”
Though the team is motivated by a noble cause, the absurdity of the instrument isn’t lost on Love. “We started from a very silly place,” she says. “We have to use the low pressure sensor. Which means to play it, you must suck.”
This won’t be the last you hear of the Vape Synth, either: Paper Bag Team are currently working on a second iteration that acts as a wireless breath-activated MIDI controller. This, we have to see.
