Imogen Heap bounds onto the stage wearing black, a glittering, cosmically ruffled jacket and some musical gloves. You know, as you do. The gloves are the way that she activates the music around her, while where she stands on the stage also impacts the treatments on her voice. “I have music in my hands,” she says, “and the playground of the stage around me.” First demonstrated at last year’s TEDGlobal, the gloves are now fully functioning, totally mesmerizing and perfectly beautiful. Amazing.

Photos: James Duncan Davidson