SOUND TESSELLATIONS EVENT

My expectations / What I wanted to do

This project aims to create a playful atmosphere where two groups of people (six persons each) can make a song together. Each person records a sound that is attached to an accesory. Then, they trigger their own sounds and interact with the sounds made by other persons.

It is an experimental set-up that creates personalized sound atmospheres with wearables.

With it, I want to:

• See how a wearable could be used in order to change a space (creating sound)
• Design jewels that can trigger sounds
• Make accesories with recicled materials
• Create a social atmosphere in which every person has a sound-role
• Personalize sounds
• Create accesories that the users feel emotionally attached to

The first step: Jewels with fiducials
 
After considering several options that included: sensors, bluetooth, MP3s and RFID, I decided to work with fiducials (graphic patterns) that can be recognized and tracked with a cam (in this case a webcam) and a MAX MSP patch. They are hidden in the jewels so the user decides when to show them. They represent different sounds.

Each accesory has 3 different fiducials that are printed on fabric. They are hidden and the user pulls the paper arrow of the jewel in order to show the fiducial pattern. These can be scanned by a webcam that recognizes each pattern as a sound and triggers it in a room. The three sounds are: one atmospheric sound, one sound I recorded before and onoe fiducial that the user have to show as he or she records a sound. 

Final jewels

Techniques:
Recycling: collecting, choosing and cleaning
Making: paper cutting and folding, embroidery, sewing, fabric printing

 Jewel where one of the three hidden fiducials is shown

What was necessary for the event

Sorftware: MAX MSP,  adobe, reacTIVision

Equipment: 2 computers, two webcams, one microphone, 3 spot lights, 6 seats, 3 tables

THE EVENT

A group of 12 persons receive an invitation by email

 
They also receive images of the different jewel they can choose from in order to wear them during the event. There are 10 jewels for women and 3 bow ties for men

For women:

For men:

The persons are gathered at the entrance hall of the building where the event takes place

There is a host who explains the event, shows and gives a jewel to every one. Then, he gives specific instructions so the users can enter the next room one by one

 
Each user wears his or her accesory the way they want

One by one, each person enters a transition room where there is a computer with instructions, headphones, a microphone and some objects to make sounds with. It is important that the recording is a private experience when each one decides what sound to record

These are the instructions that are on the screen of the computer. The user has to follow them in order to record a sound

The user records a 2 seconds sound and goes to the main room. The sound will loop five times when it is triggered.

There are some seats that are organized in a circle, a table-screen

In the main room, the instructions are:

1. The person who enters the main room can take any seat

2. There is an exploration of the jewel, its fiducials and the sounds they represent.

3. Another person enters the room

4. He or she grabs the webcam and starts playing with the sounds

5. Another peron enters the room... and so on


There is a screen in the table that is in the center. It shows what is seen by the webcam and randomly points an arrow to a user. The user who is pointed to has to scan a fiducial on his or her jewel. Another arrow is pointed to someone else who scans another sound that is added to the room sound.

So, the final result is a site-specific song that is created by everyone!!!

That was the plan. Until then everything was working well. However, there were some technical issues during the event. Sometimes, technology is not easy to rely on.

Fortunately, I kept the pictures, sounds and videos that were taken. So, I organized them and now I presented as: What it could have been

Since it did not work as I expected, I decided to make a video with the footage and sounds I have. The persons of the video are the participants of the first group. The sounds are the ones they recorded themselves

In the video, there is a new sound (atmospheric or one made by a user) every 10 seconds. Each sound is triggered every time there is a user scannes a fiducial pattern of his or her jewel. The sounds that were recorded in-site last 2 seconds and loop 5 times. The atmospheric sounds last 20 seconds each

This is the video of what I consider is one of the many possibilities these sounds have. I think that the expectations and the recording of these sounds were a unique experience, anyway:

What I did not like

• I did not try it out some days before the event. I think it could have prevented the failure of it.
• I thought that a small group of persons could create a more personalized experience. However, I found that it limits the possibilities and the results. Besides, it also excludes possible users that may give an interesting feedback.  
• Before the event, I wanted to make the sounds myself. I spent too much time trying to learn how to make social sounds and make them sound like a song. In the end, I found it better if each person could create their own sound. I think they also liked it this way.
• It was a complicated set up that needed more attention.  It should have been very well synchronized.

What I did like:

• The atmospherical space I created
• The expectations I created before the event
• The song as a social ritual
• The people sitting in a circle around the center as a strong metaphore of a social experience  
• The reactions of the users who were so attached to the sounds they created that waited patiently in order to see if the scanning could work. Sadly, some of them could not trigger their own sounds. But they explored and played with the rest of the sounds that were in the jewels anyway.
• The exploration of a wearable with a webcam was unexpectedly hard. Maybe beacause we are  used to the 2D interactions in front of us. So, when it comes to explore our own body with a moving webcam it can be difficult.

Conclusions

• I think that this event was a good experience for me and my work.  From this experience, I think there are some good and some that can I will try not to repeat again. I really value the help that was given to me by the tutors and participants of the event. I think I learned many things from it, even when the created sounds could not be triggered.
• What I liked that can be important in my work, is the wearability and the exploration of sounds in the human body. 
• I enjoyed playing with sounds, but I think I would like to play with existing sounds or songs from now on, so I can be more focused on the design of the wearables and the interaction I can create with them.
• I also expect my work to be more open to any person who is interested in seeing or using it.
• I think it was too complicated being the first interactive set up I created. I think it is better if I simplify and/or divide my ideas in different independent projects that do not depend so much in each other.