The Lab

Where creative and technical experiments live. Ten active projects — fiction sandboxes, generative tools, display systems, sound machines, and curated training catalogues. Some finished. Most still in motion.

FMT-06 · Labs 10 active projects In development · 2026
21
Projects
16
Live demos
3
In development
1
Active sandbox

LAB-01 · Fiction Sandbox

01

Canary Co

A fictional diversified multinational group — 8,980 employees, 6 divisions, 17 business units, founded 1923. A creative and research sandbox for AI adoption: a worked end-to-end engagement, an interactive org explorer, personas, risk registers, skills catalogues and workforce tensions.

Active sandbox · Calderbridge, England Explore Canary Co →

LAB-02 · AI Tool

02

Lyric Generator

An AI-powered lyric generation tool. Input genre, mood, theme, and tempo. Output: verse, chorus, and bridge structure in styles from blues to grime. A practical experiment in musical context and language generation.

In development · Coming soon View project →

LAB-03 · Display System

03

Pulse

Real-time big screen messaging for offices, factories, and event spaces. Pulls live data feeds — Slack, Teams, RSS, custom JSON — and displays them in animated typographic sequences. Split-flap inspired. Configurable themes.

In development View project →

LAB-04 · Digital Signage

04

Split Flap Screen

The classic departure board aesthetic in pure web technology. A CSS and JavaScript split-flap display animation for digital signage. Configurable messages, adjustable speed, multiple themes. A working live demo available.

Live demo available Try the demo →

LAB-05 · Generative Audio

05

Music Machines & Sound Generators

A collection of generative music tools and sound experiments. Algorithmic composition, tone generators, rhythm machines. Tone Machine, Rhythm Grid, Chord Explorer, and Ambient Generator — built on the Web Audio API.

In development · Web Audio API Explore the machines →

LAB-06 · Language Experiment

06

Pulse-Tracker

An AI-powered reimagining of the classic Pulse-Tracker stream. Real sentences built around love, hate, think, believe, feel, and wish — fading slide gallery with dark and light modes. Verbs as a lens on collective thought.

Live · Fading slide gallery · Dark/light mode Open Pulse-Tracker →

LAB-07 · Lyric Geography

07

Sam Finder

Every place Sam Fender named in a song, mapped. Thirteen locations across North Shields, Howdon, and Newcastle — from The Gunner pub to the Meadow Well Estate. Click any marker to hear the lyric, read the context, and open the track on Spotify.

Live · Leaflet map · 13 locations · North East England Explore the map →

LAB-08 · Event Tracker

08

MS Build 2026 Tracker

A filterable tracker for every official Microsoft Build 2026 announcement, session, keynote, blog, and resource. Updated twice daily from official Microsoft channels only. Filter by type and theme. Runs June 2–16 2026.

Live · June 2–3 2026 · San Francisco + Online · Updated twice daily Open the tracker →

LAB-09 · Hyperlocal Magazine

09

northshields.buzz

A Timeout for the AI era — focused on North Shields, NE30. A daily hyperlocal magazine covering art, music, food, events, places, and people. No ads. No paywall. No algorithms. Produced daily with AI + Cowork + Claude. Issue 001 live now.

Live · Daily cadence · No ads · NE30 · Fish Quay to Cullercoats Read Issue 001 →

LAB-10 · Training Catalogue

10

MS Learn Catalogue

63 curated Microsoft Learn training resources across six subject areas — Copilot for M365, Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, Power Platform, Purview, and Security. Filter by subject, level, type, and role. Learning paths, Applied Skills, certifications, and modules.

Live · 63 resources · 6 subject areas · Filterable Browse the catalogue →

LAB-11 · Audio Tool

11

Dissolve

A browser-based sample loop player built around decay and disintegration. Upload audio, set loop points, and apply slow tape-degradation effects — pitch drift, flutter, granular erosion, and long reverb tails. Inspired by the aesthetics of deteriorating magnetic tape.

Live · Web Audio API · Drag & drop samples Open Dissolve →

LAB-12 · Generative Audio

12

Morphogen

An ambient sound engine that generates evolving drone textures using oscillators, filters, and modulation. Set parameters and let it run — no two sessions sound the same. Endless, slowly-shifting tonal landscapes generated entirely in the browser.

Live · Web Audio API · Generative · No samples needed Start Morphogen →

LAB-13 · Sound Laboratory

13

Microcosm

A granular synthesis laboratory. Upload any audio file and the engine shreds it into thousands of micro-fragments, reassembling them into new textures, clouds, and impossible sounds. Adjust grain size, scatter, pitch, and density in real time.

Live · Granular synthesis · Web Audio API Enter the lab →

LAB-14 · Language Toy

14

Magnetic Type

Poetry on the fridge door. Drag-and-drop word tiles across a board to compose lines, verses, or nonsense. Curated word pools across feelings, objects, verbs, and connectors. A tactile, analogue-feeling writing toy for the browser.

Live · Drag & drop · No login required Write something →

LAB-15 · Synthesis Studio

15

Tone Object Studio

A modular tone-design studio for sculpting individual sounds. Shape oscillator waveforms, set ADSR envelopes, layer harmonics, and route through filter and effects chains. Each sound is a standalone object — exportable, saveable, shareable.

Live · Web Audio API · ADSR · Modular routing Build a tone →

LAB-16 · Visual Tool

16

Ransom Notes

Cut-and-paste typography in Polaroid form. Type a message and watch it rendered in mismatched newspaper typefaces, angles, and sizes — then framed in an instant-photo border. Download as an image. Ideal for subversive greetings and found-text aesthetics.

Live · PNG export · Multiple typeface styles Make a note →

LAB-17 · AI Reflection Tool

17

Art Discovery

A guided tool for mapping what you actually like — not what you think you should like. Word tiles, reflection prompts, and an AI layer (bring your own Gemini key) that generates unexpected connections between your interests, obsessions, and half-remembered feelings.

Live · Gemini AI optional · Bring your own key Discover something →

LAB-18 · AI Tool

18

AI Idea Generator

A structured AI brainstorming tool for creative and technical experiments. Set your media type, skill level, and a system prompt. Generate five structured ideas — each with rationale, what might work, what might fail, and a key takeaway. Bring your own OpenAI key.

Live · OpenAI gpt-4o-mini · Bring your own key Generate ideas →

LAB-19 · Music Studio

19

Generative Music Studio

A full generative music composition environment. Build sequences from scale-based note pools, set rhythm grids, layer multiple instruments, and let the engine improvise within your constraints. Record, loop, and export. No music theory knowledge required.

Live · Web Audio API · Multi-track · Export ready Start composing →

LAB-20 · Audio Workstation

20

Loop Desk

A browser-based loop workstation with a built-in FX chain. Load samples or record directly, set precise loop points, and route through filters, delay, reverb, distortion, and compression — all in a compact, focused interface. No DAW needed.

Live · Web Audio API · FX chain · Record or upload Open Loop Desk →

LAB-21 · Language Art

21

Poetic Champions

Text slowly assembles itself on screen in typewriter style — quiet phrases, half-formed thoughts, lines that drift in and dissolve. Four modes: Standard, Less, More, and Ambient — each controlling the density and pace of the text stream. Meditative and hypnotic.

Live · Auto-advancing · Four modes · Full-screen Read something →

LAB-22 · Synthesis Studio

22

Multi-Voice Synth

A polyphonic dual-oscillator synthesiser in the browser. ADSR envelope, resonant filter with envelope tracking, ring modulation, two-tap stereo delay, and a built-in arpeggiator. Play from the on-screen keyboard or your computer keyboard. No plugins, no install.

Live · Web Audio API · Keyboard playable Play the synth →
The lab is where things get tested before they hit the real world — or don't.