The ISS / ISO Projects

The Interactive Swarm Orchestra (ISO) project explores the employment of flocking algorithms to control sound synthesis and sound spatialiation. The project has developed both conceptual and practical tools that help in the creation of swarm based computer music The conceptual result includes guidelines and strategies for creating aesthetically meaningful relationships betweem swarm behavior and musical structure. The practical output of the project is a series of C++ libraries for swarm simulation, sound synthesis, sound spatialisation and video tracking. In addition, an interactive performance space has been created that is equipped with ambisonic surround technology and tracking cameras.

Funding: Dore (Do Research, Swiss National Science Foundation)

The Interactive Swarm Space (ISS) explores the application of swarm simulations for the creation of interactive and immersive spaces. It aims to develop tools and strategies for establishing meaningful relationships between swarm behavior, interaction, perception, as well as musical and artistic expression. The project focuses on issues of multi-modal feedback and audio-visual spatialization which we deem central for a creative engagement with autonomous, self-organized and spatially distributed systems. This project is part of a research direction that explores the possibilities and challenges that artificial autonomous systems pose for artistic practice and performance. We believe that in order to exploit the artistic potential of such systems, novel forms of interactivity, creativity, and aesthetics need to be found. The project builds on research in the fields of New Media and Human Computer Interaction, such as the application of self-organized systems for the creation and synchronization of acoustic and visual feedback and expression, intuitive forms of interaction that attempt to bridge the gap between artificial systems and natural spaces, and differentiated forms of immersion which engage the audience on perceptual, emotional, social and intellectual levels. The project chooses swarm simulations as a flexible and evocative prototype of a self-organized, autonomous artificial system. Our research explores the artistic potential of swarm simulations by emphasizing issues of interaction, immersion and aesthetic expression.

Funding: Dore (Do Research, Swiss National Science Foundation)