HRTF Rattle

The HRTF Rattle is an example of the Sonic Interaction Design of a Metaphor for Physical Sonification, which extends on the earlier  HRTF Bells. The rattle is constructed from both left and right ear HRTFs so that the sound is influenced by the complete HRTF dataset. The HRTF data was measured from a Kemar dummy head, but future versions will be constructed from individual HRTFs of human subjects. Will the rattles made from different people sound distinctly different ? Can this physical sonification be used to classify or analyse these datasets ? Stay tuned….

An Audio-only Film does not have a narrator like an Audio Book, and differs from Radio Drama in the use of hi-fidelity surround sound. spatial effects and musical drama.

This year the 100 students in Sound Design and Production at the University of Canberra adapted a novel, Invisible, written by Paul Collis, to an Audio-only Film in 6 scenes.

Invisible : Audio-only Film adaption http://pool.abc.net.au/projects/behind-waterfall/project/showcase

Invisible is a story of contemporary life as an aboriginal man, written by Paul Collis as a part of his Ph.D. thesis in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra.

The ABC Pool site for social media was an essential part of a collaborative production process that involved 100 students over 5 weeks. The top-level Group “Behind the Waterfall” contains 6 sub-Groups, one for each scene. Studio workshops of 10-20 students worked together in distinct roles to produce Dialogue, FX and Music tracks. Directors interpreted the sonic script for each track, Editors were responsible for sequencing, layering and mixing, Designers sourced, synthesised and recorded sounds, and Producers facilitated the process and took responsibility for titles, credits, and licensing. Students in different roles were able to explore. experience, develop and demonstrate skills and techniques in their personal My Page Portfolio on Pool. The audience at the Premiere in the final lecture were invited to vote for Gold, Silver and Bronze awards on the Pool site, and the competition has been intense.

The final production is a first draft and learning experience that highlights what works, what nearly works and what might be done differently next time around. Nevertheless, Invisible – the Audio-only Film, shows the potential to put sound first in film-making, rather than adding it as an afterthought or supporting part. It also shows how sound can communicate powerful ideas in a memorable way through imaginative immersion in dramatic experiences.

Stephen BARRASS + THE MASTERS OF DIGITAL DESIGN

Anaer Anaer; Nathan Evans; Natalia Ludmila; Subyeal Pasha; Richard Spellman; Amber Standley; Patrick Stein; Vanessa Wang;

The Social Colony of Floor-Tiles produces a pattern of flashing lights and buzzing sounds when you step on it. The tiles communicate socially with their neighbours to produce larger emergent effects. They can be arranged in different ways and programmed with new behaviours to create new effects. New tiles can be added in an ad-hoc and scalable manner to expand or reshape the floor, or create other kinds of interactive surfaces.

Each artist constructed, programmed, and decorated their own customised tile. The tiles are cellular automata constructed from an arduino microprocessor, electronic sensors, LEDS and piezo buzzers by students in the Masters unit on Design, Interaction, Environment.

The Social Colony of Floor Tiles is currently being shown in the Creative Practice exhibition curated by Diane Firth at the Belconnen Arts Centre in Canberra from 22 July – 7 August 2011.

This is a live looping performance with Binaural Bells played around a Dummy Head. On the day it turned out that one of the mics in the dummy head was not functioning so Gyorgy volunteered to take its place wearing his in-ear binaural mics instead.

The Microphones in the ear-canals are connected to a laptop for effects processing and then to speakers around the audience.
The Binaural Bells were constructed by 3D printing a dataset in stainless steel so that it rings. The dataset is a Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF) that describes the spatial hearing characteristic of the Dummy Head. These bells can be played as an informative sonic object or as a musical instrument.

The audience listen through Gyorgy’s ears to the HRTFs he measured from a Kemar dummy head played in a live looping performance as Physical Sonification Dataforms. Its all Very Very Recursive, and enough to give you a mental and aural headspin

Here is the final moment of the performance where the feedback of the room effect through my hands on Gyorgy’s ears produces a low pulsing rumble as a finale.

Performance of the Sound of One Ear Ringing, with György Wersényi as at ICAD 2011 in Budapest. Photo courtesy of Anton Schertenlieb.

This piece was performed on June 22 2011 in the program of the ICAD 2011 Conference in Budapest.

HRTF Bells

The construction of the bells is described in this paper presented at the ICAD 2011 conference in Budapest.

The Left and Right Bells sound different from each other, and from the base Control Bell. Spectrograms of the Left and Right Bells show the superposition of doubled harmonics that is easily heard. The immediate audible difference between these two large complex datasets that is not readily observed in the visual form suggests that the Bell could characterize a HRTF dataset in a way that could be useful for classification and recognition of HRTF datasets.

The HRTF Bells are currently being shown in the Creative Practice exhibition curated by Diane Firth at the Belconnen Arts Centre in Canberra from 22 July – 7 August 2011.

These physical sonification data forms can be ordered online from Shapeways.com at this URL  http://www.shapeways.com/shops/umwebejo

Golden Bell of Hearing

The construction of the bell is described in this paper presented at the ICAD conference in Budapest in 2011.

The Golden Bell of Hearing was curated by Diana Hare for the Embracing Innovation exhibition at CraftsACT in Canberra from 31 March to 7 May 2011.

A medallion made from a personal HRTF dataset makes a unique and intimate work of jewellery.

The data was measured from a microphone placed in a the ear canal of a dummy head to measure the Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTF) that characterise spatial hearing. One side of the medallion is an HRTF dataset measured from the left ear, while the other side is from the right ear. The ridges and grooves on the surface are frequency notches that are cues for localising sounds. The medallion allows you to hold and feel the data set that contains information about spatial hearing from both ears in a single compact object.  An expert in spatial hearing can carry this data set around in their pocket as an object for contemplation. The medallion allows you to start to ask questions about features such as the regular ridges that appear on the opposite side to the recorded ear.

HRTF Medallion

The construction of the Medallion is described in this paper presented at the ICAD conference in Budapest in 2011.

The HRTF Medallion was curated by Diana Hare for the Embracing Innovation exhibition at CraftsACT in Canberra from 31 March to 7 May 2011.

A physical version of this first HRTF Medallion can be ordered from Shapeways.com at http://www.shapeways.com/shops/umwebejo

Pouffy the Breathing Pouf is the next version of Yiffy the Plushie Tuffet that was shown at the Embracing Innovation exhibition earlier this year.

We have linked the sounds to the breathing more tightly and improved the robustness of the furniture design. It is made to be sat on and responds to you sitting.

Pouffy and Fauxy at Touch Too at the UTS in Sydney

Pouffy is showing at the Touch Too exhibition opening on June 21 at UTS in Sydney, along with Fauxy the Fake Fur with Feelings.

Touch Too is a research exhibition curated by Anne Cranny-Francis as part of an Australian Research Council funded project on the meanings of touch.

Yiffy the Plushie Tuffet is a piece of furniture designed to provide companionship. Yiffy is covered in faux fur tufts that rise and fall in a breathing rhythm that creates a presence in the room. The rise and fall is accompanied by soft sounds of contentment and tranquility. When sat upon Yiffy responds with coos of greeting, and breathes more rapidly in excitement. Sitting and quietly sharing the moment with Yiffy produces a stream of more contented gurgles, warbles and tweets.

Yiffy was curated by Diana Hare for the Embracing Innovation exhibition at CraftsACT in Canberra from 31 March to 7 May 2011.