I recently downloaded an app called propellerhead – figure. This is a simple app which has three main screens the user can input Drums, Bass and Synth into by dragging their finger to create different sounds and volume. These are all recorded together to produce looped music shorts which can be downloaded and/or exported to different programmes.
I really liked the main concept of this idea and thought about how to execute this in a larger space. By creating sketches I could use three different screens. These would use the camera input to track hand movements and create different sounds based on where the hand coordinates on the screen. One screen would be drums, one synth bass and one synth lead.
This interactive experiment would attempt to engage users in the area to interact with the screen and thus each other by influencing the sounds and communicating with each other using sounds/ another language. This would be a comment on how little we engage with surrounding people, unless through a screen with a sense of anonymity. The users never have to look at each other and yet are communicating with one another through sounds and body movement. This could also look at how we can meet and interact with people on a global level, even if we cannot understand their language , through forums, games and other social mediums. This may also be a good observation of body language. Some may be shy and timid with their body language and create only a few sounds, whereas others may express themselves more fluidly and confidently to play around with the experiment more.
Charlotte Strethill-Smith 