Breaking the Ice was successfully launched for the Cultural Olympiad of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. The installation combines telepresence with game-like 3D interaction, in order to foster a dialogue between Olympic visitors and the distant city of Montreal. The audiences of both locations are excited to have the ability to ‘break the ice’ with their compatriots, and socialize about the Olympic games.

The project was a collaborative effort of many groups at the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], including industrial designers, production staff, and the PropulseART research team. At the heart of the technology, lies the SPIN Framework, which maintains the distributed 3D state, and renders the graphical interface. The Scenic software system was used for transmission of audio & video signals between both locations using the high-bandwidth CANARIE network.

More information about the project can be found on the SAT’s page for Breaking the Ice, and in the videos below:

An introductory video of Breaking the Ice

Interview with Paul Warne (concept, artistic director)

4Dmix³ is an immersive multi-user remixing installation, that uses a ceiling-mounted camera to track many participants moving within a gallery space. The users can see their avatar representations in a mirror-like display, allowing them to localize themselves within a field of virtual sound sources. In fact, a plethora of musical loops are scattered throughout the environment, each of which are phase-locked to match the rhythms of the others.

In the end, the user experiences immersion in a virtual world, where movements guide virtual microphones through a forest of audiovisual sculptures. The sculptures emit sound that feed the users’ mix as he or she travels through through the musical landscape.

See the video below for an idea of how this works, or visit the 4Dmix³ on Audioscape.org.