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The SPIRALALALA Is A Spiral Staircase That Transforms The Human Voice
In this video from Poland-based media arts & design collective panGenerator, we observe the incredible feat that is the SPIRALALALA, a spiral staircase that uses a falling ball to manipulate the sound of the human voice. The venue in which the staircase lives is in the Szczecin Philharmonic Hall.
From information that panGenerator provides in regards to the SPIRALALALA:
The audience has been invited to experiment with various spatialised sound effects applied to their vocalisations that were synchronised with the movement of the balls falling along 35m long track. The interaction starts with insertion of the ball into the microphone. Then recording starts and after the recorded sound stops the ball is released to slide down along the track.
Thanks to custom built gates with infrared sensors and radio modules the sound transformations applied to the recording were synchronised with the current speed and position of the ball. The light trail following the ball has also been created thanks to the sensors and microcontrollers measuring the speed of the ball passing the gates.
Since we were using five speakers – one per floor, we were also able to achieve spatialisation of the sound creating the illusion of the sound “falling” with the ball. As a finishing touch we’ve also used simple projection mapping synchronised with the motion of the ball to make the whole thing more visible for the people standing in the lobby of the Philharmonic.
In the end we’ve created a playful and engaging audience-driven audiovisual performance that exemplifies our vision for integrating new media art practice with architecture and breathing the life into static form thanks to digital technology.
You can visit the panGenerator website to learn more about the SPIRALALALA as well as explore more of the collective’s unique projects.
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