Before you get too excited, this isn’t a real electronic instrument, but many who gaze upon the OP-S - a concept product from Spanish agency Gris Design - will wish that it could be.
Unashamedly inspired by Teenage Engineering’s OP-1, which itself took design cues from Casio’s VL-1, the OP-S is billed as a ‘smartphone synthesizer’ that enables you to create complete productions wherever you go. It’s suggested that this would have audio I/O, built-in microphones, front-facing speakers and a set of three cameras.
Of course, if you have an iPhone, this kind of functionality already exists - there are a multitude of great music-making apps on iOS - but you’ll need external hardware if you want proper audio I/O and MIDI control.
Whether there’s a big enough market for a product like the OP-S for it to come to market is debatable, though, so these images might be as close as it ever gets to becoming a reality.
Check out all the images on the Gris Design Instagram feed.
