South SFV Today

Yannie Tan's life has been shaped by sound from an early age. Born to a Malaysian father and Vietnamese mother, she grew up speaking Mandarin and Cantonese respectively. At the tender age of four, she started learning Spanish while simultaneously training as a classical pianist.

Tan always knew that the sounds of words and music were integral to her life. However, it wasn't until she was 12 years old that she realized her experience with them was unique. When asked by her piano professor to describe the left-hand melody she was playing, Tan responded that it sounded like red velvet.

This revelation led to the discovery that Tan has synesthesia, a condition where two or more senses are intertwined. In her case, she experiences sound as color.

This unique perception has fueled her creativity across various disciplines. "I started to make use of it not only in music but also in reading and writing and creating new ways to interact with others, even through technology," Tan said.

As a teenager, Tan performed on the piano around the world and gained a YouTube following. She pursued her education at Stanford University where she minored in music but designed her own major – computer visualization – which combined her curiosity, creativity, and interest in design thinking.

She took a gap year in 2020-21 to found an audio-based social platform before returning to campus with renewed enthusiasm for learning and creating.

During her time at Stanford’s program at Oxford University, Tan studied creative writing. She helped revive the Stanford Students in Entertainment group and wrote, produced, and directed a short film titled 'Lili', about two musicians entwined in romance and rivalry. The film is currently being submitted to festivals with hopes of continuing directorial work.

Two of Tan's recent projects were inspired by Disney films. She developed an interest in soft robotics after watching Big Hero 6 which led her to work on a wearable robotic sleeve at the Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine Lab. This spring, she wrote a Disney-influenced song cycle about a girl who can hear colors, which was performed by her close friends at the Nitery Theater.

Tan's next step is an internship with Disney as a technical director this summer where she will further develop her skills as a creative technologist, a profession that blends technology and design. Following this, she plans to move to Denmark for an internship on the LEGO design team before returning to Stanford to complete her coterminal degree in computer science.

With every creation, Tan hopes to inspire others with her unique way of perceiving the world. "I hope that there will be more people who have the conviction to be unique and to have the confidence to stand by their ideas and their creations," she said.