Synthesizer

Studio Palz
University of the Arts Berlin
2017

Synthesizer investigates different modes of mediation between physical and digital space

The input space is a 3x3x3m blacked-out cube in which the movement of the users is captured through infrared trackers. The information on location and movement is processed to drive different audio-visual programs that are being projected back into the input space. The installation is seeking to establish a feedback loop from the movement of the users to its computational interpretation back to its representation projected into the physical space.

How can we implement digital data in physical space?

Digital Data is presented to us through an interface which in the history of the computer has for the most part been a screen. No matter if the data it is projecting comprises of any spatial information, it does so in a flat, two-dimensional way. There is no spatial relationship between the user and the data. Spatial data creates this relationship by overlaying digital information with the analogue space. It is based on the following propositions:

// Input

The possibility to make the analogue space into a data space by using the position and movement of the user inside the space as an input that can be transformed by the computer.

// Output

The possibility to overlay the analogue space with an output of data that derives from the processed input of the user as well as data from external sources.

// Input x Output

The potential is the spatial overlap of input and output. It creates a feedback loop in which the output is informing the user and with it the user's input. As such, the space becomes an active interface where the output can only be understood through the spatial relationship between the user and the overlaid space.

Map of Project Parameters*

* explored parameters In black

The tracker's position is processed and mapped to a visual output

The Setup: Tracker -> Camera -> Computer -> Projector

The infrared tracker