Akousmaflore: Sensitive and interactive musical plants by scenocosme (Grégory Lasserre & Anaïs met den Ancxt) - Akousmaflore is a garden made with real musical and interactive plants or flowers. Each plant reacts to the human touch of a spectator by a specific sound language. Our aura is hot, electric and invisible. It can act here on the vegetable foliages by offering the experiment of a reactive environment. When the spectators caress the plants, they start to sing. Become sensitive musical instruments, they make it possible to compose a floral orchestration. In our artwork we are create possible hybridizations between plant and digital technology. The plants are natural and alive sensors, sensitive to various energy flows. Digital technologies allow us to do possible relation to plant alive. Continue reading

Designing for the 21st Century Design Challenge 5 - Embodiment of a Live Music Algorithm by Tim Blackwell: Nature-inspired algorithms for autonomous music generation have been developed which have been used in performances. This software has many of the abilities of a live improvising musician, it can create, suggest and respond to those around it. However, it only has presence as software. In this design challenge we are interested in embodiment. How do we imbue the software with a meaningful physical presence?

If we assume that this will have a positive effect on the experience of the listener and off the performer, possibly increasing the space of possible interactions for example, the question comes: Continue reading