Dusman and Smallwood give you an excuse to check your phone

There's nothing like a glowing phone screen two rows in front of you during a concert to ruin the experience. But what if the phone could be changed from an annoyance to an enhancement? 

Octava is a smartphone app that aims to do just that. Developed by Linda Dusman, Music, and Eric Smallwood, Visual Arts, the app delivers background information, historical facts, and other contextual details straight to your pocket. According to Octava's website, it is a tool that "provides performing arts venues with the ability to enrich a performance with supplemental information delivered in real time. This enables the audience to glance at information about the performance or event at the exact moment when the information is most pertinent."

Octava's beta test with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston in February was covered by the local NPR station, and was picked up for national distribution on WGBH's "Here and Now." Learn more about the app, and watch it in action, before it comes to a venue near you!