Locale S3 :: How Does It Work?
A sound installation by Michelle Jaffé, Phil Edelstein and David Reeder.
Presented via Harvestworks New Works Artist Residencies 2023.
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01:
What equipment is required?
(photos)
Visitors are given a special headset that contains an
Ultra-wideband
tag (UWB). Each headset is paired with an iPhone that communicates
with the headset via Bluetooth.
Headsets and iPhones are hung near the room entrance for easy handout
and return. The headset rack also includes infrastructure to manage
power.
The headsets communicate with UWB antennas, mounted throughout the
installation space, which collectively define the shape and dimentions
of the room. These are calibrated once and used throughout the
installation.
Locale S3 does not require WiFi to operate, though additional features
are available from NousSonic that leverage WiFi.
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02: How are the antennas configured?
(photos)
Antennas are distributed throughout the room to provide redundant
coverage of the floorplan. After measuring the space, each antenna is
programmed with its location.
Antennas are passive. The active headset queries the antennas and
computes its location in the room, then relays its position to an
iPhone app which determines the playback mix of sounds and audio
processing for a given location.
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03: How are sounds mapped to the physical space?
The NousSonic system has a frontend and a backend. The frontend is the
headset/iPhone interface which allows the visitor hear audio objects
encountered by moving through the physical space. The backend consists
of a Content Management System (CMS) that coordinates with an iPhone
app to visualize and edit assets managed by the CMS.
In the general case, audio assets are uploaded to CMS then edited with
the app to define their position and playback characteristics. The
results are captured by a set of JSON files which enable the frontend
to make decisions based upon visitor location. The backend provides
logic for defining the shape and size of audio objects, playback mix
parameters, as well as a number of "meta functions," including the
option to change the location of audio objects in real-time.
The following JSON files provide one example of a scene definition,
programming the location of audio objects in the physical space.
Sometimes it is simpler or more efficient to edit complex
configurations programmatically, rather than using the UI. For
example, the following script uses
"jq"
to move a set of audio objects in the virtual space defined by a scene:
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04: What is a portal?
A portal is a location in the physical space that, when encountered by
the visitor, sends an instruction to the NousSonic system to reprogram
the location of audio objects in the room. In this way, we can have
multiple sound sculptures that share the same physical
space, each selected in turn by the visitor.
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05: What is the Homeroom?
(photos)
The Homeroom is a neutral starting point for the visitor experience of
Locale S3. The Homeroom contains portals, which provide a physical
directory of options, that trigger the NousSonic system to switch
between different sound sculptures in the physical space.
We use portals in the Homeroom to simplify the means by which visitors
can engage the sound sculptures of each artist. The Homeroom is
distinct from the individual sound sculptures to clarify when
each sound scupture begins and ends. This also gives the
visitor agency to discover or return to each sound sculpture.
Indexing strategies like this are frequently used for interactive works
built in the medium of virtual or augmented reality.
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06: Who is NousSonic?
To learn more about NousSonic, please see their website:
Among other things, NousSonic provides a best-of-class solution for
professional art galleries that wish to associate audio or video
content with art objects located in any physical space.
Locale S3 pushes this system to its limits by focusing first on audio
objects in the absence of physical objects, enabling the creation
of pure audio sound sculptures.