Introduction

The concept of interactivity in the arts has gained special interest during the last decades. The development of technological means such as interfaces, plus studies conducted in the realm of interactive processes, have permeated essential aspects of the production of contemporary artistic creations. This research focuses on using and developing interactive processes in the creation of music mediated by the use of technology. Taking into account the theoretical and conceptual aspects of interactive creation and investigation, interactive processes also permeate the production of compositions, performances and auralization. In the search for nurturing the creation of works inside these prerogatives, a symbiosis between the theoretical and artistic angles is used. This project also aims to exploring actions, which encourage the interchange of ideas between a diversity of areas of knowledge, such as computer sciences and engineering, music and multi-media arts.The line of research presents four different angles of investigation that work in close cooperation:

  1. Sonology: Stimulates investigations that reflect on the interactive processes inherent in musical production, aiming to the elaboration of the theoretical and the conceptual body of the project.  It is linked to a musicological production, which searches for a connection between the creative and technological aspects of the project.
  2. Development of interactive systems: Focuses on the study, elaboration and construction of interactive creative systems for musical production, based on interactive processes. The nature of these systems could be of 3 kinds: a) Computational; b) Electronic; c) Conceptual.
  3. Artistic production with interactive systems: Concentrates on the processes of artistic creation, produced by the artists involved in the project. Those creations explore concepts and interactive processes, making use of systems created by members of the group.
  4. Music acoustics, psychoacoustics and auralization: Giving a way forward to prior studies in the area of acoustics, this area focuses on two main aspects: a) Room Acoustics, with an emphasis on the development of the software AcMus, concerned with acoustic measurement and simulation; and b) auralization (which highlights the development of the system for spatialization and sound projection OpenAUDIENCE).