The piece can be deployed in an outdoor environment (using GPS tracking), or in an indoor space as seen in the video below. Equipped with a wireless headset and tracking device, participants can “tag” or “spray” sound onto the wall. We provide several small musical instruments, which can be used along with one’s voice, to add sounds to the collaborative musical mix. The installation is seeded with some pre-existing sonic material, which allows participants to synchronize rhythmically, and maintains cohesion over time. All user-contributed sounds slowly fade away, resulting in an ever-evolving musical piece.

As users moves about, they also experience a changing sonic perspective of the localized sounds, based on their particular location. So users not only create audio content, but they also participate actively in the encounter (remixing) of sonic material. Participants who are waiting their turn in the staging area may watch a real-time 3D visualization of the installation, which shows avatars of each player walking amongst virtual sound sources.

This installation was filmed at the 12th Biennial Arts and Technology Symposium in the lobby of the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology (Connecticut College, March 4-6, 2010).

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)

Below is a video of the first prototype, which will be exhibited as part of CODE Live 1 at the Vancouver Olympics:

The NTA platform for immersive telepresence

Below is a proof-of-concept video about how Clickable Space operates:

> Inspiration for interactive mobile applications:

• intro to mixed & augmented reality
• examples of locative media projects (past & present)

> Geospatial data:

• Existing viewers, rendering engines, and geotagged data
• Location-based content delivery and interaction
• intro to OpenStreetMap, Google Earth, etc.

> Mapping & GIS:

• projections and representations (lat/long - UTM)
• geocaching: waypoints/tracks/routes and exchange formats
• open source software solutions

> User tracking:

• about GPS receivers, technologies, and conversion between formats
• robustness with other inputs: accelerometers, compasses, cameras, fiduciary markers, etc
• alternatives: computer vision, wifi triangulation, LPS, etc

> Development and authoring for mobile devices:

• intro to Mediascape, and how to create locative media artworks
• discussion of other platforms (iPhone, Android, OpenEmbedded, etc)

> Future of mobile technology:

• auditory displays
• gestural interaction
• see-through glasses, mediated reality

(Original post: http://www.creativetechnology.org/video/raw-materials)

I think that in the near future, bottom-up projects like this will replace the top-down commercial data sets, similarly to the way that Wikipedia has replaced online reference material. The paradigm has the advantage of numbers, making it more possible to keep up-to-date with the changing global landscape.

OSM 2008: A Year of Edits from ItoWorld on Vimeo

As you might know, my main colleague and research collaborator who works with me in the design of 3D musical interfaces is Zack Settel. In summer of 2008, he produced Blairatta Policeme, a volumetric concert piece for jazz trio, mobile chamner quartet, and audio-enhanced performance space. See his documentation for more about what this means. On that site, you’ll find a live recording by the CBC, as well as an excellent video that explains the main concepts.

Also most recently, Zack appears in a video interview (seulement en français) on the on the Télé-Québec site. In fact, you can also see me in some of the shots, apparently doing “research”.