Immersive Open Studio: Shared Space, Shared Sound

Sunshiyu Wang, Changda Ma, Canting Zhu, Gibran Mobarak, and Henrik von Coler

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

We present Immersive Open Studio, an artistic concept built around a course-based shared public space with a spatial-audio infrastructure. Realized at The Underground Art Center in downtown Atlanta, the studio is designed to support multiple student group projects for public presentation. We transported a 32-channel loudspeaker system from the Georgia Institute of Technology and reinstalled it in this public setting, creating a sustainable, repeatable spatial-audio infrastructure for interactive audiovisual projects, which was tested by real-world contingencies. As a case study within our student interactive projects, we dive deeper into Since Everyone’s a DJ, which integrates camera-based body tracking to support collaborative and accessible electronic music performance within the immersive environment. Overall, this paper documents the realization of a course concept, provides an example of reusable infrastructure for multiple artistic projects, and examines how a public-facing spatial-audio environment supports audience engagement. More broadly, the project outlines a path for bridging technical infrastructure with collaborative artistic practice and public experience, establishing a foundation for future work in this area.

Citation

Sunshiyu Wang, Changda Ma, Canting Zhu, Gibran Mobarak, and Henrik von Coler. 2026. Immersive Open Studio: Shared Space, Shared Sound. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784215 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_68,
 abstract = {We present Immersive Open Studio, an artistic concept built around a course-based shared public space with a spatial-audio infrastructure. Realized at The Underground Art Center in downtown Atlanta, the studio is designed to support multiple student group projects for public presentation. We transported a 32-channel loudspeaker system from the Georgia Institute of Technology and reinstalled it in this public setting, creating a sustainable, repeatable spatial-audio infrastructure for interactive audiovisual projects, which was tested by real-world contingencies. As a case study within our student interactive projects, we dive deeper into Since Everyone’s a DJ, which integrates camera-based body tracking to support collaborative and accessible electronic music performance within the immersive environment. Overall, this paper documents the realization of a course concept, provides an example of reusable infrastructure for multiple artistic projects, and examines how a public-facing spatial-audio environment supports audience engagement. More broadly, the project outlines a path for bridging technical infrastructure with collaborative artistic practice and public experience, establishing a foundation for future work in this area. },
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {68},
 author = {Sunshiyu Wang and Changda Ma and Canting  Zhu and Gibran  Mobarak and Henrik von Coler},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784215},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {8},
 pages = {577--584},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/RyIJB66n3Zc},
 title = {Immersive Open Studio: Shared Space, Shared Sound},
 track = {Paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_68.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}