Tonos: Generative Music Therapy

Lead Engineer & Co-Producer | Maku XR | 2020

Project Overview

Tonos is a music-based meditation app built on the clinical research of "mood repair," which suggests that the most effective way to regulate emotions is to listen to music that mirrors your current internal state. The app guides users through a series of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) mood mediation steps to identify and process complex feelings. Unlike traditional meditation apps, Tonos allows users to compose their own therapeutic score in real-time, translating their emotional "cocktail" into a unique musical resonance.

Development

As Lead Engineer and Co-Producer, I spearheaded the technical synthesis of therapeutic logic and generative audio:

• Generative Music Engine: Engineered a system capable of producing over 1,000 unique musical combinations. I mapped complex musical properties, such as harmonic density, rhythmic stability, and instrumentation to simple, eyes-closed touch interactions.

• Eyes-Free Interaction Design: Co-produced a specialized UX that allows users to navigate the entire experience without looking at their screen. By using simple vertical gestures (up/down) to edit musical parameters, I ensured that the user’s focus remains internal and meditative.

Cross-Platform App Development: Architected, built, and deployed the interactive application to iOS and Android platforms.

Outcomes & Impact

• Accessibility in Wellness: Successfully launched a "medium-agnostic" tool that serves as both a high-fidelity music generator and a mental health resource, available on both iOS and Android.

• Personalized Emotional Cataloging: Created a novel way for users to "archive" their feelings as musical tracks, allowing them to track their emotional evolution over time or share their "internal sound" with loved ones and therapists.

Research-to-Product Pipeline: Successfully translated abstract psychological research into a tangible, consumer-ready application that has helped users process the "complicated cocktails" of modern stress and isolation.