ArtBus computer interfaces for art, design, and multimedia

tetra.path: 8-channel interactive audio installation
A person who is walking toward the installation will trigger a series of sensors. The sensors then route signal to the speaker closest to the user’s location. As the user moves forward or backward, the sound follows and varies in playback speed, depending on the user’s location and velocity. If the user slows down, the sound will as well, without affecting the pitch. The user becomes a human body audio-scrubber and is encouraged to use their body as an instrument.

Concept
Sound is constantly giving us information but often that information is passive. Our project aims to dynamically investigate “hearing” at an extreme level of detail and hopes to bring awareness through interactivity. By adding the interactive element to the experience, the viewer will have the power to control what they hear by exploring the relationship that the body has with sound in the space. The concept revolves around how we perceive sound and also blurs the line between composer and listener. The project also has to do with dissection of sound, repetition, speed, pitch, duration, and expands on our perception of time.

As PureData is the system that drives the audio, there are endless possibilities of how to manipulate the sound.  tetra.path was specifically designed to affect time and speed. Additional patched are currently being created to modify other properties of sound, such as pitch.    -Ben & Cassandra