Teroy and I were thrilled by how our interactive sound sculpture prototype turned out. And thanks everyone for your feedback and initiative to test it! Teroy thought the way the piece engendered continued and deeper levels of interaction over time was a significant element. I also loved that the speakers projected the resonant sounds of the sculpture's inside, effectively placing the participants within it.
Feel free to download our Max patch: Tangented.maxpat
Bradley and I are working on a project similar in concept to his E-light prototype. Our goal is to used video to animate an object with a certain kind of behavior that will react to being approached. Our desired scenario is to have something that appears to exist, or have some living quality, beyond its being interacted with, and that its change in behavior will evoke a sense of disturbance or interruption of its existence.
The idea is to set up an interactive experience where the interaction feels like an interruption of a process or system, rather than a completion or catalyst of those things.
Our project is meant to be used by one person at a time, but experienced and appreciated by many others simultaneously.
Who doesn't love dancing like a fool? Unfortunately, such joy is not often experienced during daylight, while sober, and in the judging eyes of your close friends. Our project is meant to embrace the silliness of late-night raves and put it on the pedestal. While wearing our box-helmet apparatus, the user will experience an overwhelming light show that syncs with a mesmerizing dance beat. The experience will draw a fine line between mesmerizing and obnoxious, and if the user does not suffer an epileptic shock, they will likely be drawn into the fantastic light show and explore the interactive features of the helmet while stumbling across the designated dance rug. Tilting the helmet (side to side, front to back) will alter the light effects and adjust filters on the music. So the more you bob your head, the more you get out of the party. The user will be encouraged to move around with the helmet, sing along, dance, head bang, etc., while the rest of the class looks on, laughing, pretending they don't deeply desire to wear the party helmet.
The guests of this installation gallery will approach a glass window that separates them from a small, dark room, where two individuals stand motionless among a table, chair and couch. On the spectator side of the window is a Control Panel that features five buttons and a reset switch. This control panel is rested atop a table. The red buttons beg to be pushed, and upon pushing any button, an audio command will play, accompanied by the illumination of one of five lightbulbs hanging behind the performers. The lightbulbs will feature gelled lampshades,(white, blue, red, green, yellow) and each lightbulb coincides with a specific audio clip as well as the particular button that triggers both the illumination and the audio clip simultaneously. Each button features a specific audio command, audible to the spectator. The commands are then acted out by the two performers in the small living room type of setting. The commands are as follows: "Get Down". "Make me Laugh", "Get to Work", "Ponder", "Eat". The reset switch interrupts any audio clip and returns the given light to a non-illuminated state, signaling the performers to return to their original positions.
The idea behind this project is to investigate how humans are an extension of technology, and how an audience member may interact with both live performance as well as a pre-programmed system of sound and light.
Pure geometric bliss! Teroy and I are building a sound sculpture that can be performed by multiple participants simultaneously. The object itself-inspired by constructionist or cubist forms-will be built of wood and when completed will appear as a pseudo-inverted model of a city. The various regions of the sculpture will have unique sonic profiles and performance possibilities. The inherent resonant qualities of these regions will be embellished by different electronic elements embedded within the object. Additionally, the embellishments of these regions will be networked so that when they are played, the regions will induce change on the sonic quality of each other to varying degrees of subtlety. Mics will also be placed in the vicinity of these regions. The resultant audio signals will be processed by custom software and diffused throughout the space via loudspeakers in and around the sculpture. As participants perform the object, sound will emanate from the sculpture and its networked system of sonic tangents, effectively enabling physical and spatial sound performance simultaneously. Can you dig it?
