Peter Sinclair: NEW ATLANTIS
Locus Sonus and ESAA and the Art and Technology Program at the SAIC began to create a multi user virtual world based on the second life model, but entirely dedicated to audio and video experimentation. Like second life or many online video games each user or visitor will download an application that will render the world locally on their computer. Each copy of the world is linked to a server so that each user can perceive the actions of others. The principal difference between our proposed world and second life is that it will incorporate relatively sophisticated VR and audio processing possibilities and that the navigation, architecture & esthetics are to be thought out primarily to enhance the virtual experience.

Methodology and Context
The project is being developed by ESAA represented by LS and SAIC, funded by PUF. Professor Roland Cahen from ENSCI (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Design Industriel) in Paris is currently collaborating in an unofficial mode, however we hope to include ENSCI in the exchange program in the future. The major part of research and development is being carried out by faculty from Aix-en-Provence and Chicago and by artist/researchers from LS, however one of the main aims of the project is to provide a “sandpit” for students from both ESAA and SAIC, and indeed students from other institutions. Much of the development is taking place in workshops on either side of the Atlantic where students participate in workshops, building objects and “patches” to inhabit the world.

Objectives
Our inquiries during the workshop have centered on our notion of space, challenging traditional notions of landscape and navigation. For the sonic environment, we began with a text by Francis Bacon “New Atlantis” dating from 1614, an extract from which can be found below, which describes a utopian world filled among other things with incredible audio phenomena. Using this text as a starting point we have defined types (or classes) of objects to be represented in the visual space that can have “concordant” digital audio processes.

Current state of research
At the time of this writing, work is just beginning on this project, which is programmed to develop over the next three years. We have concentrated our efforts on choosing basic principles concerning how the world is to function, the foundations, if you will, of the world. Various aspects of the task have been discussed in detail. The credibility of interaction opposed to creative liberty, and esthetic in contrast to imaginary realism, is a central part of our thinking. Many aspects of the project remain to be discussed and verified in practice. There is a consensus among us that the world should have an abstract form while maintaining a certain acoustic credibility in relation to space, distance etc. It is clear that the objective is not to concentrate our efforts on realistic simulation, but at the same time the user needs to “believe” in the relationship that is established between the visual and the audio synthesis. We are exploring these ideas through the use of a 6-DOF controller, the OSC protocol, Panda, Blender, and Pure Data. The question was raised as to whether the notion of personalized avatars (predominant in second life) should exist or not. The decision is to use “camera vision” thus focusing participants’ efforts on the creation of sound as opposed to the visual esthetics of an avatar. The question remains whether the user is represented visually in the world or not, and if so how, or indeed if the presence is purely audio. Lengthy discussions have also taken place concerning the manner in which the audio is calculated in relation to the space and the degree of complexity that is manageable or desirable. However the discussion is too technically involved to be discussed here.

Extract From New Atlantis, by Francis Bacon (1614)
We have also sound-houses, where we practice and demonstrate all sounds and their generation. We have harmony which you have not, of quarter-sounds and lesser slides of sounds. Divers instruments of music likewise to you unknown, some sweeter than any you have; with bells and rings that are dainty and sweet. We represent small sounds as great and deep, likewise great sounds extenuate and sharp; we make divers tremblings and warblings of sounds, which in their original are entire. We represent and imitate all articulate sounds and letters, and the voices and notes of beasts and birds. We have certain helps which, set to the ear, do further the hearing greatly; we have also divers strange and artificial echoes, reflecting the voice many times, and, as it were, tossing it; and some that give back the voice louder than it came, some shriller and some deeper; yea, some rendering the voice, differing in the letters or articulate sound from that they receive. We have all means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes, in strange lines and distances.

Participants:
Peter Sinclair, Professor, ESAA (Locus Sonus).
Peter Gena, Professor, SAIC (Art and Technology Studies; Sound).
Ricardo Garcia, Professor, ESAA (LOEIL).
Jerome Joy, Professor, ESBAA Villa Arson (Locus Sonus)
Roland Cahen, Professor, ENSID (Sound)
Ben Chang, Associate Professor, SAIC (Art and Technology Studies)
Brett Balogh, Instructor, SAIC (Art and Technology Studies / Liberal Arts)
Robb Drinkwater, Adjunct Associate Professor, Sound/ATS, SAIC
Gonzague, developer independant.
Margarita Benitez, Instructor, SAIC.
Alejo Duqué, researcher (Locus Sonus).
Scott Fitzgerald, researcher (Locus Sonus).
Julien Clausse, researcher (Locus Sonus).
Anne Roquiny, coordination (Locus Sonus).

Students from ESAA
Charlotte Benedittini, Benoit Espinola, Bastien Vacheron, Michael Barret.

Students from SAIC
Matt Grif?n, Ping-Yao Chen, Joseph Grimm.

Brett Ian Balogh: Environment and Navigation

In creating virtual worlds, one must concern themselves with the nature of the environment and how the user navigates it. In our everyday experience, we find ourselves on the surface of a large sphere, so large in fact that we may imagine ourselves traversing a plane, held fast by the force of gravity. This paradigm exists in many game environments (first person shooters, etc.) We may also experience other modes of navigation, such as swimming and flying. In a new world that does not necessarily adhere to the physical reality, how does one find themselves? Buoyant in a fluid microcosm, tumbling in a weightless space, rolling along an undulating surface? My inquiries during the workshop have centered around our notion of space, challenging traditional notions of landscape and navigation. I have been exploring these ideas through the use of a 6-DOF controller, the OSC protocol and Panda.

Robb Drinkwater

At the beginning of the first week I did a mini-workshop with both students and faculty where I introduced the 3d modeling programs Blender, where I demonstrated some basic 3d modeling techniques. In turn this allowed participants to create various models and environments for testing and possible inclusion in the final project.

From there most of my own efforts went in to taking the code originally written by Ben Chang, which allows the user to manipulate objects in the scene, and adding the ability to navigate the scene (by manipulating the camera). In turn this information is broadcast to the sound synthesizers to create the aural illusion that the user and the sounds are spatially moving.

Ricardo Garcia

Hommage bleu à Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (le Corbusier).

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret souhaitait pour son ultime demeure, à savoir son tombeau, qu’il fut placé une sphère et un cube. Ces formes représentaient pour lui l’essence même de l’abstraction architectonique. De ce concept déclinait donc toute les formes architecturales.
La sphère réalisée pour ce projet à la particularité d’absorber les sons et isole l’auditeur du mon extérieur.

Skull un projet ataraxique (la tranquillité de l’âme).

La boite crânienne vécue comme auditorium. La mémoire humaine consacre une place majeure au son, à la musique et est est la dernière à persister lorsque des maladies dégénératives abrasent le souvenir.

La représentation de la tête de mort incarne également la symbolique de la vanité humaine, largement utilisée durant la période baroque. Il me plais de jouer du contre sens en utilisant le crâne comme objet réceptacle du souvenir et dans un sens plus large du vivant.

Ping-Yao Chen and Margarita Benitez

Initially the desire was to combine Ben’s clickAndDrag code and the Roaming Ralph OSC code. From that point we proceeded to experiment with changing the user controls to a traditional FPS control - WASD keys to move player and mouse changing the point of view of the camera.

We worked on a collision detection system so that objects would be solid to the user and we attempted to work with physics nodes to add gravity to the scene.

We have begun to explore texture and material creation in blender and its translation to panda3d. Unfortunately materials do not export directly to panda3d from blender so the process entails having to bake textures baking blender. Some experiments were made into baking radiosity into the mesh but the results leave further exploration desired.