Feedforward | unChambered

Jinku Kim

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Feedforward | unChambered is an interactive robotic sound installation that explores how contemporary technological systems shape perception and agency through repetition and self-reference. The work is grounded in a premise drawn from quantum theory: observation is never neutral. To measure is to intervene, and each act of observation alters the conditions under which the next state emerges (Barad, 2007). Rather than understanding the system as a set of interacting components, Feedforward | unChambered approaches sound, sensing, and movement as emerging through intra-action, where relations precede relata and agency is distributed across material, technical, and human configurations (Barad, 2007). The installation consists of robotic arm(s) equipped with microphones that continuously move through the acoustic space surrounding loudspeakers. Sound produced within the system is immediately captured, amplified, and reintroduced, creating a recursive process in which sonic events do not exist independently of their measurement but emerge through ongoing intra-actions between microphones, robotic movement, loudspeakers, and spatial acoustics. As the microphones shift position, feedback may emerge, intensify, collapse, or narrow into specific resonant bands, producing a dynamically evolving sonic environment. Over time, the system tends toward self-reinforcement. Certain frequencies are repeatedly amplified while others are gradually suppressed, producing an audible echo chamber that increasingly listens to its own output. This behavior is not preprogrammed but emerges through the accumulation of prior measurements and their intra-active entanglement, allowing the system’s sonic memory to become perceptible through gradual shifts in timbre, density, and resonance. The resulting soundscape can be immersive and compelling, yet remains fragile, revealing how closed systems lose responsiveness as they stabilize around a limited range of patterns. This sonic behavior functions as an analogy for contemporary digital systems—such as algorithmic recommendation engines or AI models trained on their own outputs—in which systems increasingly reproduce and reinforce existing structures while excluding difference. Recent studies in machine learning have shown that models trained recursively on their own generated data can undergo a form of collapse, losing diversity and adaptability over successive iterations (Shumailov et al., 2024). In Feedforward | unChambered, this dynamic is rendered audible and spatial, allowing listeners to experience self-reinforcement not as an abstract concept but as an embodied, perceptual process. Audience presence plays a critical role in the work. By entering the space, repositioning themselves within the listening field, altering acoustic conditions, or introducing new sounds, participants do not simply interact with the system but become part of an ongoing intra-action. These perturbations propagate forward through subsequent measurements, redirecting the system’s trajectory. Human intervention does not override the machine process but becomes one agent among many within a distributed network of microphones, robotic movement, sound waves, spatial acoustics, and bodies. Rather than resolving into a fixed composition, Feedforward | unChambered emphasizes feedforward processes—conditions in which each act of measurement opens onto a different future state rather than collapsing back into self-confirmation. In this way, the installation supports collaborative exploration, allowing multiple participants to simultaneously influence its evolution. The work foregrounds shared agency across human and non-human actors, aligning with NIME 2026’s theme of Communities by framing musical experience as a co-constituted, distributed process.

Citation

Jinku Kim. 2026. Feedforward | unChambered. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20782178 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_music_49,
 abstract = {Feedforward | unChambered is an interactive robotic sound installation that explores how contemporary technological systems shape perception and agency through repetition and self-reference. The work is grounded in a premise drawn from quantum theory: observation is never neutral. To measure is to intervene, and each act of observation alters the conditions under which the next state emerges (Barad, 2007). Rather than understanding the system as a set of interacting components, Feedforward | unChambered approaches sound, sensing, and movement as emerging through intra-action, where relations precede relata and agency is distributed across material, technical, and human configurations (Barad, 2007). The installation consists of robotic arm(s) equipped with microphones that continuously move through the acoustic space surrounding loudspeakers. Sound produced within the system is immediately captured, amplified, and reintroduced, creating a recursive process in which sonic events do not exist independently of their measurement but emerge through ongoing intra-actions between microphones, robotic movement, loudspeakers, and spatial acoustics. As the microphones shift position, feedback may emerge, intensify, collapse, or narrow into specific resonant bands, producing a dynamically evolving sonic environment. Over time, the system tends toward self-reinforcement. Certain frequencies are repeatedly amplified while others are gradually suppressed, producing an audible echo chamber that increasingly listens to its own output. This behavior is not preprogrammed but emerges through the accumulation of prior measurements and their intra-active entanglement, allowing the system’s sonic memory to become perceptible through gradual shifts in timbre, density, and resonance. The resulting soundscape can be immersive and compelling, yet remains fragile, revealing how closed systems lose responsiveness as they stabilize around a limited range of patterns. This sonic behavior functions as an analogy for contemporary digital systems—such as algorithmic recommendation engines or AI models trained on their own outputs—in which systems increasingly reproduce and reinforce existing structures while excluding difference. Recent studies in machine learning have shown that models trained recursively on their own generated data can undergo a form of collapse, losing diversity and adaptability over successive iterations (Shumailov et al., 2024). In Feedforward | unChambered, this dynamic is rendered audible and spatial, allowing listeners to experience self-reinforcement not as an abstract concept but as an embodied, perceptual process. Audience presence plays a critical role in the work. By entering the space, repositioning themselves within the listening field, altering acoustic conditions, or introducing new sounds, participants do not simply interact with the system but become part of an ongoing intra-action. These perturbations propagate forward through subsequent measurements, redirecting the system’s trajectory. Human intervention does not override the machine process but becomes one agent among many within a distributed network of microphones, robotic movement, sound waves, spatial acoustics, and bodies. Rather than resolving into a fixed composition, Feedforward | unChambered emphasizes feedforward processes—conditions in which each act of measurement opens onto a different future state rather than collapsing back into self-confirmation. In this way, the installation supports collaborative exploration, allowing multiple participants to simultaneously influence its evolution. The work foregrounds shared agency across human and non-human actors, aligning with NIME 2026’s theme of Communities by framing musical experience as a co-constituted, distributed process.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {49},
 author = {Jinku Kim},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20782178},
 editor = {Lia Mice and Nicole Robson and Tara Pattenden},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {Installation},
 numpages = {3},
 pages = {205--207},
 presentation-video = {https://www.grayscale64.com/feedforwardunchambered},
 title = {Feedforward | unChambered},
 track = {Music},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_music_49.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}