New interfaces
Interactive, augmented, and expanded instruments for performance and active music pedagogy.
LIMAO
Laboratory of Adapted and Original Musical Interfaces
We design new musical interfaces by adapting existing instruments and integrating renewable energy — making music technology expressive, accessible, and sustainable.
At ESE — P. Porto, we prototype solar-powered systems, run performance-led experiments, and connect music education with open, interdisciplinary research.
Founded January 2026
3
Research projects
6
Conference/Papers
4
Performance presentations
7
Team members
GAIA music instrument
Research
LIMAO investigates how new technologies can extend musical expression while reducing environmental impact — through interface design, creative reuse, and renewable-energy prototyping.
Reuse & adaptation
Repurposing obsolete instruments, objects and electronics to for musical and educational purposes.
Solar & sustainable design
Self-contained, renewable-powered systems and materials-conscious instrument design.
English
LIMAO (Laboratory of Adapted and Original Musical Interfaces) is a space for thought and a physical lab dedicated to researching and creating new interfaces for musical expression and education, integrated into the School of Education of P. Porto within the UTC of Music and Drama.
At LIMAO, interactive, augmented, and expanded interfaces and instruments are developed for performance contexts and active pedagogies, while also promoting experimental and sustainable practices that connect education, technology, and music.
LIMAO promotes educational projects, artistic projects, digital literacy, workshops, academic research, and pedagogical activities, bringing students, teachers, researchers, and the community together around contemporary sound experimentation.
Português
O LIMAO (Laboratório de Interfaces Musicais Adaptados e Originais) é um espaço de pensamento e um laboratório físico dedicado à investigação e criação de novas interfaces para expressão e educação musical, integrado na Escola Superior de Educação do P. Porto na UTC de Música e Drama.
No LIMAO desenvolvem-se interfaces e instrumentos interativos, aumentados e expandidos, para contextos de performance e pedagogias ativas, promovendo também práticas experimentais e sustentáveis que ligam educação, tecnologia e música.
O LIMAO promove projetos educativos, projetos artísticos, literacia digital, workshops, investigação académica e atividades pedagógicas, aproximando estudantes, docentes, investigadores e comunidade em torno da experimentação sonora contemporânea.
Projects
Research initiatives developed within LIMAO — spanning wilderness performance, solar-powered interfaces, plant-based systems, and student-led instrument design.
Active
Playing Music With the Sun
Solar-powered musical interface exploring renewable energy as a creative constraint for outdoor musical expression.
Active
On behalf of Nature
Going into wilderness spaces to make music and discuss music, education and technologies.
Active
WeNature
Artistic research on music in wilderness environments, centred on Gaia — a self-contained electroacoustic instrument built from reclaimed materials.
Full project story ↗People
Researchers, students, associated artists, and partner institutions collaborating on interface design, performance, and music education with LIMAO.
Lab leadership
Filipe Lopes
Head of the lab · Principal Investigator
Composer, musician, professor, developer
filipelopes.net ↗
Researchers & fellows
Current Students
Tomás Moreira
Master student
Helian, a solar musical interface
Sílvia Tavares
Bachelor student
Interface prototyping and research
Associated artists
Henrik Ferrara
Associated artist
Developed the Crescente, an electroacoustic instrument
Marisa Ponce Leon
Associated artist
Performance and sonic experimentation
Partner institution
CIPEM / INET-md
Research structure oriented towards scientific research in music psychology, music education, and music in the community.
cipem.ese.ipp.pt ↗
LIPOR
Municipalities Association for Sustainable Waste Management of Greater Porto.
lipor.pt/en ↗Research lineage
Earlier research lines that inform LIMAO's work on musical interfaces, plant-based systems, and student-led instrument design.
2017–2019
Cant(a)eiro
Musical interfaces featuring plants, designed to be played in schools.
2019–2022
Plantorumori
Sonic worlds from symbiotic relationships between humans, plants, and digital interfaces.
2021–2022
Crescente
Electroacoustic instrument developed by Henrik Ferrara for his master's.
2022–2023
Voxi Grain
Musical interface developed by Sérgio Coutinho for his master's.
Publications
Peer-reviewed papers, conference presentations, and performances arising from LIMAO research — including outputs from related lines.
2026 · In press
Lopes, F. & Moreira, T. Helian. In: Martins N., Brandão, D., Paiva, F. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication IV: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication (in press). Springer, Cham.
2026 · Peer-reviewed
Lopes, F. POLISphone. In J. Tessmann, J. Kahl, & L. Harmsen (Eds.), Slanted Magazine, 47: Digital tools. Slanted Publishers.
2024 · Peer-reviewed
Lopes, F. Shaking Music Intuitions by Othernessing the Wilderness. In: Gonçalves Lind, A., Pinto, A.P., Lambert, D. (eds) The Process of Becoming Other in the Classical and Contemporary World. Palgrave Studies in Otherness and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
2024 · Conference
Lopes, F. Gaia: um instrumento musical eletroacústico como reflexão sobre música, natureza e tecnologia. Apresentação oral. In 3º Encontro em Música, Tecnologia e Investigação. Organização: Centro de Investigação & Informação de Música Portuguesa. Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal.
2024 · Conference and Performance
Lopes, F. & Coutinho, S. WeNature: o que significa tocar música na natureza. Apresentação oral e performance. In Seminário WeNature: o que significa tocar música na natureza? Organização: Centro de Investigação em Psicologia da Música e Educação Musical. Porto, Portugal.
2023 · Peer-reviewed
Lopes, F. & Coutinho, S. Surfing the landscape of physical computing platforms to develop electroacoustic musical instruments. In: Martins N., Brandão, D., Paiva, F. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication IV: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication (pp. 936–949). Springer, Cham.
2023 · Conference
Lopes, F. & Coutinho, S. WeNature: o que significa tocar música na natureza? Apresentação oral. In Seminário Escola de Outono: explorando o ensino da música numa sociedade em mudança. Porto, Portugal.
2023 · Conference
Lopes, F. & Coutinho, S. WeNature: o que significa tocar música na natureza? In Book of Abstracts Escola de Outono (pp. 35–37). Porto, Portugal.
2023 · Conference
Lopes, F. & Coutinho, S. Falando Sobre Criação Musical Digital em Contextos Educativos. Co-organização por: Cecília Reis, Rita Miragaia e Eugénia Viana no âmbito do estágio do Mestrado em Ensino de Música da UA. Atividade inserida no LA:bEAMUS.
2023 · Performance
Lopes, F. Music Lessons Plants Teach Me. Performative presentation. In International Symposium for Artistic Research: Crosswinds — collaborative creativity as transformative practice. Aveiro, Portugal.
Media
Video documentation, performance footage, and photographs of prototypes, instruments, and lab work.
Featured video
Lab videos
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WeNature / Gaia
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Playing Music With the Sun
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Lab prototyping
Sustainability
LIMAO embeds sustainability in instrument design — through material reuse, self-contained power, solar prototyping, and alignment with open research communities.
Creative reuse
Gaia's body was carved from an abandoned log, extending the life of found material while shaping the instrument's acoustic identity. A core LIMAO principle: adapt before you fabricate.
Renewable Energies Friendly
Gaia was designed to be portable and power-independent via a solar panel, enabling wilderness performance without reliance on grid infrastructure.
Repairing equipment
At LIMAO we like to fix and repair old, damaged and obsolet equipment.
English
Promotion of the efficient use of existing equipment and resources in order to reduce waste and obsolescence.
This principle is based on interdisciplinary collaboration and creative reuse, in dialogue with the other scientific and technical units of ESE and, more broadly, with the Polytechnic.
It also includes the adoption of standards and procedures shared by the main communities working and researching in this field, namely NIME, ELIA, and DIY communities.
Português
Promoção do aproveitamento eficiente dos equipamentos e recursos existentes, de modo a reduzir o desperdício e a obsolescência.
Este princípio assenta na colaboração interdisciplinar e na reutilização criativa, em diálogo com as outras unidades técnico-científicas da ESE e, mais amplamente, com o Politécnico.
Integra ainda a adoção de normas e procedimentos partilhados pelas principais comunidades que investigam e desenvolvem este campo, nomeadamente a NIME, a ELIA e as comunidades DIY.
Contact
Get in touch
LIMAO welcomes contact from people working across music performance, music technology, and music education — including research funders, collaborators, and students.
Affiliation
LIMAO — Laboratório de Interfaces Musicais Adaptados e Originais
Escola Superior de Educação — P. Porto
UTC de Música e Drama