FO2 - Building A Wearable Laser-Feedback Instrument: Performing body-space-technology entanglements

Nicola Hein, and Viola Yip

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

This paper describes the opto-electronic laser-feedback instrument FO2, first developed in 2025 and created for the composition Fluid Ontologies, developed by Transsonic (Nicola Leonard Hein and Viola Yip). It is a wearable opto-electronic instrument that uses line laser diodes as “opto-loudspeakers” and solar panels as “opto-microphones”. It uses an embedded Bela Gem microcomputer, worn on the performer’s back in a 3D-printed case. Furthermore, it features two 3D-printed handheld controllers that hold the line laser diodes as well as an array of digital (buttons) and analog (joysticks) control inputs to the Bela Gem. The DSP unit of the instrument is pro- grammed in SuperCollider and enables feedback algorithms as sound sources and live electronic effects to be controlled through handheld controllers. Incorporating the space and its reflective properties into the instrument’s circuit and behavior, FO2 enables an exploration of the affordances of the performance space unique to this instrument. Furthermore, it engages the performers as bodies in technology and in space and brings about a transmedial listening practice at the core of the musical performance.

Citation

Nicola Hein, and Viola Yip. 2026. FO2 - Building A Wearable Laser-Feedback Instrument: Performing body-space-technology entanglements. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784200 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_63,
 abstract = {This paper describes the opto-electronic laser-feedback instrument FO2, first developed in 2025 and created for the composition Fluid Ontologies, developed by Transsonic (Nicola Leonard Hein and Viola Yip). It is a wearable opto-electronic instrument that uses line laser diodes as “opto-loudspeakers” and solar panels as “opto-microphones”. It uses an embedded Bela Gem microcomputer, worn on the performer’s back in a 3D-printed case. Furthermore, it features two 3D-printed handheld controllers that hold the line laser diodes as well as an array of digital (buttons) and analog (joysticks) control inputs to the Bela Gem. The DSP unit of the instrument is pro- grammed in SuperCollider and enables feedback algorithms as sound sources and live electronic effects to be controlled through handheld controllers. Incorporating the space and its reflective properties into the instrument’s circuit and behavior, FO2 enables an exploration of the affordances of the performance space unique to this instrument. Furthermore, it engages the performers as bodies in technology and in space and brings about a transmedial listening practice at the core of the musical performance.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {63},
 author = {Nicola Hein and Viola Yip},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784200},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {6},
 pages = {536--541},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/7wcLNNgdf5o},
 title = {FO2 - Building A Wearable Laser-Feedback Instrument: Performing body-space-technology entanglements},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_63.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}