Selfhood, an experience around the self

Resumo

In the development of new music interactive technologies, a mixed reality environment can function as a laboratory to evaluate interactive behaviour. With the advent of new technologies that have emphasized interaction and novel interfaces, alternative forms and modes of interactive media have been realized. These developments raise fundamental questions on the role of embodiment as well as the environment and interaction in the understanding of the man-machine interplay. In addition, it places emphasis on a more situated and externalist view. Moreover, body’s perceptual, cognitive, motor and kinaesthetic responses have to be reconfigured to the needs and constraints concerning action and perception in this new space and the interface can now be optimized to its user. In line with these recent developments, we present here the SELFHOOD installation as an interdisciplinary research framework. SELFHOOD is an installation in which two particle systems based on Boids are used to generate images and digitally synthetizing sounds. The generative sound machine of the installation is the CromaCrono≈ system that operates with a small set of compositional operations making possible real time control. Our research is anchored in a multimodal laboratory where we study human cognition and music creativity supported by digital interfaces, computer graphics and motion capture. It is an interactive environment with a large 3D screen and a six channel sound diffusion system. The key point discussed here is the creation of new art forms based on interactive narratives, virtual soundscapes and synthetic visualization. The assumption is that the interaction of an agent or group of agents with an immersive space,using various interactive devices, indicates how these processes affect their behaviour and the meaning that is constructed by them. These systems can be evaluated from the perspective of the interaction between agents and devices generating sounds, video and 3D graphics.