KIMA: The Wheel –Voice Turned into Vision: A Participatory, Immersive Visual Soundscape Installation

• Published in: Leonardo (Oxford) Vol. 53; no. 5; pp. 479 - 484
• Main Authors: Gingrich, Oliver, Emets, Evgenia, Renaud, Alain, Soraghan, Sean, Ablanedo, Dario Villanueva
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209, USA MIT Press 01.10.2020; The MIT Press; MIT Press Journals, The
• Subjects: Immersive learning
• ISSN: 0024-094X; 1530-9282
• DOI: 10.1162/leon_a_01698

Over the last five years, , an art and research project on sound and vision, has investigated visual properties of sound. Previous iterations of focused on digital representations of cymatics—physical sound patterns—as media for performance. The most recent development incorporated neural networks and machine learning strategies to explore visual expressions of sound in participatory music creation. The project, displayed on a 360-degree canvas at the London Roundhouse, prompted the audience to explore their own voice as intelligent, real-time visual representation. Machine learning algorithms played a key role in meaningful interpretation of sound as visual form. The resulting immersive performance turned the audience into cocreators of the piece.