Sounding Canvas: A Networked Social Artwork Bridging Distant Communities through Tactile Interaction

Luciano Ciamarone, Dora Motèque, and Marco Giordano

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Sounding Canvas explores the concept of "augmented paintings", traditional physical artworks embedded with an invisible electronic brain. The project stems from a "semiographic" research phase where visual shapes are used to generate dynamic sonic material. Participants engage directly with the canvas by touching its surface, initiating interactions that shape the resulting soundscapes in real time. Gestures are processed by an embedded software component called Event Manager, which can operate using either a Hidden-Order Markov Model or a Recurrent Neural Network to determine the canvas’ sonic responses. This design emphasizes the dialogue between human and machine, allowing users to experience the canvas as a semi-autonomous, responsive partner in the creative process. When multiple canvases are networked, this interaction extends across space: actions on one canvas influence the behavior of its counterpart, fostering a shared, collaborative experience that emphasizes non-verbal communication and social musicality. The system adapts continuously, responding to both individual gestures and remote events, creating a performance that is unique to each participant and session.

Citation

Luciano Ciamarone, Dora Motèque, and Marco Giordano. 2026. Sounding Canvas: A Networked Social Artwork Bridging Distant Communities through Tactile Interaction. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20782028 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_music_2,
 abstract = {Sounding Canvas explores the concept of "augmented paintings", traditional physical artworks embedded with an invisible electronic brain. The project stems from a "semiographic" research phase where visual shapes are used to generate dynamic sonic material. Participants engage directly with the canvas by touching its surface, initiating interactions that shape the resulting soundscapes in real time. Gestures are processed by an embedded software component called Event Manager, which can operate using either a Hidden-Order Markov Model or a Recurrent Neural Network to determine the canvas’ sonic responses. This design emphasizes the dialogue between human and machine, allowing users to experience the canvas as a semi-autonomous, responsive partner in the creative process. When multiple canvases are networked, this interaction extends across space: actions on one canvas influence the behavior of its counterpart, fostering a shared, collaborative experience that emphasizes non-verbal communication and social musicality. The system adapts continuously, responding to both individual gestures and remote events, creating a performance that is unique to each participant and session.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {2},
 author = {Luciano Ciamarone and Dora Motèque and Marco Giordano},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20782028},
 editor = {Lia Mice and Nicole Robson and Tara Pattenden},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Installation},
 numpages = {4},
 pages = {5--8},
 presentation-video = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1BjlL4bxZg},
 title = {Sounding Canvas: A Networked Social Artwork Bridging Distant Communities through Tactile Interaction},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_music_2.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}