SELFHOOD: An Evolutionary and Interactive Experience Synthesizing Images and Sounds

Abstract

The SELFHOOD installation was conceived aiming to instigate a reflection on the self through a practical and interactive experience. A representation of each participant is created in a form of a cloud of points and a sound drone, suggesting their selves. The dynamics of the visitors’ movements is sonified in such way that colours and sound textures are fused in a surrounding hexaphonic system. CromaCrono≈, the system for immersive improvisation that produces digitally synthesized sounds in real time, is described. Philosophical concepts concerning notions of the Self are presented. We propose that the notion of Presence can be induced by virtual and/or physical sources of stimulation governed by a number of principles that underlie human experience, creativity, and discovery. The methodological point of view is that the notion of Presence indicates that there are essential inputs for the construction of self-referral agents.