https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdlYFCp5IcTokyo programmer, artist and turntablist Daito Manabe attaches electrodes to his face to trigger facial expressions using music samples, as shown by the video to the right.

"Yes, the electricity is making my face move," Manabe told Wired.com via e-mail. "There are eight channels [of] audio to move my face."

Some commenters on YouTube claim it's fake, but I'm buying it partly on the strength of his previous test videos. If this is a hoax, it's an elaborate, well-executed and fairly pointless one:

Test 1

Test 2

"Redefining the existent media and technologies from unique angles, I

have been active in the various fields, such as art, design, and evenresearch and development," explains Manabe on his web page. "I produce the output of sounds, images, andlight through analyzing and transforming the numerical values gainedfrom a various sensors and input devices."

Why not implement the process in reverse, so that the facial muscles control the music?

While most musicians probably haven't been waiting with bated breathfor electric sensors they can tape to their faces, Manabe's work could pointthe way to musical instruments with more direct connections to our brain'selectrical impulses. Traditional instruments require the brain to trigger movements in arms andfingers to produce music, whereas something like that would work directly off of theface – a notoriously expressive part of the body with over 50 distinctmuscles.

(Update: This story originally assumed that Manabe was using his face to trigger the music rather than the other way around.)

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(Thanks, Chris)