Seoul designers Jihyo Seo and Jimin Hwang have developed a new levitating turntable design, dubbed ‘LEVI’, where it appears to make your vinyl records float in mid-air. The conceptual design is inspired by Harman Kardon – an electronics company which manufactures home and car audio equipment – and is complex and visually appealing.
Although it wears the branding of Harman Kardon, it is just a concept and has nothing to do with the brand itself, but could certainly be a design that the company would be more than interested in. Not only does it boast an incredibly unique design, but its functions are unique too. Amplifying the listening experience for a vinyl collector, the four-mode settings (soothing, refreshing, sweet, and bittersweet) each cause the turntable to move up and down to the rhythm of the musical notes that are playing out.
A chick dial is also featured, moving between 12 rpm or 17 rpm. If you’re wondering how the record can ‘float’ like it does, it is all thanks to an electromagnetic drive and coils. A video uploaded to Vimeo, which you can view below, shows the turntable in action.
LEVI – levitating turntable from Seo on Vimeo.
This isn’t the first time that this technology has come into play though. MAG-LEV Audio created a Kickstarter page for the world’s first levitating turntable, and it is available to purchase here. Could this be the future of turntable technology? It is certainly possible, as the vinyl market is booming now, with overall sales of vinyl seeing a massive increase, and new technology is innovating our music listening experiences constantly.
Image credit: Seo
