A Flock of Words: live music performance with holograms and interactive multimedia

Doris K. Vila

doi:10.1117/12.301465

1 February 1998 A Flock of Words: live music performance with holograms and interactive multimedia

Doris K. Vila

Proceedings Volume 3358, Sixth International Symposium on Display Holography; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.301465
Event: Sixth International Symposium on Display Holography, 1997, Lake Forest, IL, United States

Abstract

This paper describes A Flock of Words, a cross-media music performance realized in collaboration with composer Robert Rowe. An interactive computer system linked large-scale holograms, video projection, animation, robotic lighting effects, and computer music. With a text from Elias Cannetti's Crowds and Power, an artificial-life algorithm animates swarming words. Projected onto the large holograms, the text flies in and out of linear readability, set off by computer music signals. A Flock of Words uses custom computer software to analyze the music being performance by an ensemble of human players and guide the simultaneous projection of real-time animation onto holograms, video, holographic lighting, and computer music. To stage the piece, we created an interactive computer system combining large-scale holograms, video projection, animation, robotic lighting effects, and computer music. The real-time animation was an adaptation of Craig Reynolds's Boids algorithm, which we dubbed `woids', and was used for animating flocking words.

Citation Download Citation

Doris K. Vila "A Flock of Words: live music performance with holograms and interactive multimedia", Proc. SPIE 3358, Sixth International Symposium on Display Holography, (1 February 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.301465

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available