Today we’re launching Lyria Camera, an app that uses Lyria RealTime to make music with your camera. By combining Gemini’s image understanding and the Lyria RealTime API, Lyria Camera generates a musical score that adapts to your environment on the fly.
It works by translating the visual scene into musical descriptors via Gemini, producing prompts like Reflective piano, cityscape calm. The Lyria RealTime API uses these terms as prompts to create a continuous stream of music that’s generated on the fly. As you move about your world, the prompts and the music they create will evolve over time.
Try Lyria Camera now or remix it on AI Studio.
The world is your instrument
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Reward your curiosity: When you’re using Lyria Camera, every image is a new instrument. You can find songs in your sketchbook, at the laundromat or in your breakfast cereal. Film around and see what you can find.
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DJ your commute: Point your camera out the train window or mount it on your dashboard. Lyria Camera responds to the shifting scenery—the rhythm of passing streetlights or the calm of an open road—creating a drive-time score that matches your journey beat for beat.
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Score your screen: On desktop, try the “Share Screen” feature to use a browser tab instead of your camera. Actually, any app on your computer can be used as a video feed. Try it while you’re working or gaming for a tailor-made soundtrack.
How it Works
Lyria Camera brings together several AI capabilities to create a seamless audiovisual feedback loop.
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Multimodal Prompting. This is the bridge between sight and sound. We use Gemini to analyze your camera feed, translating visual cues into rich textual descriptions. These descriptions act as musical instructions, telling Lyria exactly how to interpret and ”play” what you’re seeing.
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Continuous & Steerable Generation: The Lyria RealTime API is designed for continuous music generation. Instead of generating a static song, it creates an endless stream of audio that you can “steer” in different directions. This allows the music to morph smoothly from one mood to another without ever stopping or skipping a beat.
What will you build?
Lyria Camera is a great companion for a walk or a drive, and it’s just one thing you can do with the Lyria RealTime API. We built this app to demonstrate the possibilities of continuous, steerable music generation, but the real potential lies in what comes next.
You can try Lyria Camera on your phone or desktop today. For developers ready to push the boundaries further, the Lyria RealTime API can help you build the next generation of music experiences.