Being With The Waves: An Ultrasonic Art Installation Enabling Rich Interaction Without Sensors

Nicole Robson, Andrew McPherson, and Nick Bryan-Kinns

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2022
• Location: The University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Article Number: 48
• DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.376bc758 (Link to paper)
• PDF link
• Presentation Video

Abstract:

To the naked ear, the installation Being With The Waves appears silent, but a hidden composition of voices, instrumental tones, and maritime sounds is revealed through wearing modified headphones. The installation consists of an array of tweeters emitting a multi-channel ultrasonic composition that sounds physically in the space. Ultrasonic phenomena present at the listener’s ears are captured by microphones embedded on the outside of headphone earcups, shifted into audibility, and output to the headphones. The amplitude demodulation of ultrasonic material results in exaggerated Doppler effects and listeners hear the music bend and shift precisely with their movement. There are no movement sensors, mappings, or feedback loops, yet the installation is perceived as interactive due to the close entanglement of the listener with sound phenomena. The dynamic quality of interaction emerges solely through the listening faculties of the visitor, as an embodied sensory experience determined by their orientation to sounds, physical movement, and perceptual behaviour. This paper describes key influences on the installation, its ultrasonic technology, the design of modified headphones, and the compositional approach.

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME22_48,
 abstract = {To the naked ear, the installation Being With The Waves appears silent, but a hidden composition of voices, instrumental tones, and maritime sounds is revealed through wearing modified headphones. The installation consists of an array of tweeters emitting a multi-channel ultrasonic composition that sounds physically in the space. Ultrasonic phenomena present at the listener’s ears are captured by microphones embedded on the outside of headphone earcups, shifted into audibility, and output to the headphones. The amplitude demodulation of ultrasonic material results in exaggerated Doppler effects and listeners hear the music bend and shift precisely with their movement. There are no movement sensors, mappings, or feedback loops, yet the installation is perceived as interactive due to the close entanglement of the listener with sound phenomena. The dynamic quality of interaction emerges solely through the listening faculties of the visitor, as an embodied sensory experience determined by their orientation to sounds, physical movement, and perceptual behaviour. This paper describes key influences on the installation, its ultrasonic technology, the design of modified headphones, and the compositional approach.},
 address = {The University of Auckland, New Zealand},
 articleno = {48},
 author = {Robson, Nicole and McPherson, Andrew and Bryan-Kinns, Nick},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.376bc758},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {jun},
 pdf = {68.pdf},
 presentation-video = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D5S5moUvUA},
 title = {Being With The Waves: An Ultrasonic Art Installation Enabling Rich Interaction Without Sensors},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.21428%2F92fbeb44.376bc758},
 year = {2022}
}