Project Description
Full Artistic Statement in German as PDF download
Video Documentation (with screen recording)
Audio Samples
The complete Patch including download-, purchase- or information links to: - all externals used in the patch - all the hardware used in the patch and where to buy it (including audio output situation)
patch walkthrough and tutorial
all the things stated above will be added here as soon as the project is finished
Introduction
The goal of the semester project was to write a Max Patch for an interactive sound installation. The installation was about connecting the movement of an individual in a defined space or room to the acoustic environment in this certain area.
The main idea behind this action, was to give the person a certain amount of control over the parameters of sounds, that would be played and positioned in the room, without the person being aware of the interaction. This required an interface that wasn't visible or touchable from the beginning on, so the installation used video tracking, scanning the movement of the person in the room.
The data, that's gained from the video tracking is used to influence the parameters of the sound as well as the spatialisation of the sound, meaning its position in the room. This already offers quite a lot of potential to give the recipient a feeling of influence on his environment.
The Setup
To be independent from the light condition in the room, an infrared camera was used. The most practical, and especially cheapest way to do this was using a Kinect 360 camera.
In order to position the sounds in the room and change these positions, it was necessary to have a setup of multiple speakers. In this case, a surround speaker setup of four speakers was used.
Resources
HARDWARE
Kinect 360 sensor https://www.amazon.de/Microsoft-LPF-00057-Xbox-Kinect-Sensor/dp/B009SJAIP6 (pretty expensive... but you can easily get used ones for less than 40€ on ebay-kleinanzeigen.de)
Kinect 360 Adapter https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B008OAVS3Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
SOFTWARE
ICST Ambisonics Plugins free download https://www.zhdk.ch/forschung/icst/icst-ambisonics-plugins-7870
TUTORIALS
Color Tracking in Max MSP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0OncCG4hMw&list=PLG-tSxIO2Jkjj0BthZ_y0GRkWRjAvL1Uo&index=4&t=310s (Part 1 of 3)
Kinect Input and normalisation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro3OwWnjfDk&list=PLG-tSxIO2Jkjj0BthZ_y0GRkWRjAvL1Uo&index=5