Development of Interactive Systems

Study, design and construction of systems for musical creation and performance based on interactive processes. These systems can be of three different sorts:

1. Computational: based on systems an algorithms implemented as software systems, or as applications designed using existing programming environments, e.g. Max/MSP/Jitter; PD; and EyesWeb. These systems shall be used as tools for musical and sound production.

2. Electronics: based on the development or utilization of specialized hardware for interactive musical production. Small electronic devices shall be developed such as gesture-based controllers, sensors and transducers (e.g. accelerators and GPS-based items), wireless transmitters (to connect sensors and other devices), and interfaces to manage audio distribution and spatialization.

3. Conceptual: logical and algorithmic systems that can be used to build experiments in collaborative musical creation. These systems can be implemented as computer programs, as well as support tools for composition and performance.

A specialized research team in the project shall be devoted to the creation and development of interactive systems for composition and performance. Open source tools shall be explored as means to create musical environments composed of controlling interfaces and gesture-based sensing devices (sensors, cameras, etc.). We shall consider specifically the use of open platforms such as Arduino (see http://www.arduino.cc/), which is an electronics based platform to build open source prototypes, which can be easily adapted for special purposes and which has been used extensively for artistic production given its low cost and ease of use. This platform can establish communication between the computational tools we shall use (Max/MSP/Jitter, PD and EyesWeb, Flash), this way enabling the connections between software and hardware.entre os níveis de soft e hardware.