Dylan Caldwell

Fortitude Founder

Allen County
Founder Profile

Dylan

Caldwell

Business

Percussion Lab

Founded

2018

Grant Date

June 2018

Idea

A virtual reality experience that turns everyday objects into a music studio, allowing users to explore sounds and musical concepts.

Percussion Lab is all about making a mess without the consequences.

After the Spectrum Virtual Reality Arcade opened its doors in Fort Wayne, Dylan Caldwell was inspired by user experiences in virtual reality. During his time at Purdue Fort Wayne, Dylan was able to participate in an independent study that allowed him to create a virtual reality experience of his own.

Percussion Lab allows users to create music out of everyday objects. The first semester of his independent study was used for starting the virtual reality creation process, and by the end of his second semester, The Percussion Lab was fully prototyped.

Before the grant from Fortitude Fund, the environment of the experience was dismal and eerie, with generic sounds that didn’t seem genuine to a music-making experience. Now, the sounds and scenery in Percussion Lab are more true-to-life.

Although Percussion Lab is entertainment-oriented, Dylan has worked hard to create a stress-relieving environment for users, making the app viable in the music therapy market.

Dylan hopes to continue adding more sounds and scenes to Percussion Lab to create a fun, engaging, and realistic music-making experience for arcade goers.

Business Updates

Innovator Spotlight: Percussion Lab offers ‘music-making sandbox’

How would you describe the virtual reality game you invented, the Percussion Lab?

Through virtual reality, the Percussion Lab turns everyday objects into your personal music studio.

At its core, the game is a music-making sandbox. Featuring a library of objects to arrange, players can make complex and creative percussion sets, such as arranging a stack of tires in the shape of a drum set, or seeing the innovative sounds that can be made by hitting a diving helmet with a mallet.

Contact Dylan Caldwell