orbiter

interactive sound environment

Marcus Wendt & Vera-Maria Glahn

SYNOPSIS

The Orbiter takes possession of all senses. It is a place for visitors to lay down and relax,
watching the firmament above them. With a small gesture, just pointing upwards, the
visitor can insert new stars into orbit with unique visual and musical characteristics. The
player enwombed by the instrument; the music infolding and pervading the ears, the body
and space.

The dream of reaching for the stars is as old as mankind itself. The mathematics of
planetary orbits, the perfection of natural geometrical forms fascinates and inspires
scientists and artists alike. Even music principles as tonality or phase displacement are
based upon computational ideas and find correspondency in the Orbiters structure.

The music is played on a scale of concentric circles, visible in some of the scenes, with
higher tones on the larger, basses on the smaller circles. The bigger you let a star grow
before you pull back your hand to insert it into orbit, the louder it plays.
Like the stars orbit on the large ceiling screen above the player, the surround sound
orbits in the room on 4 high-tone-channels, supported by a bass box and a solid bourne
sound speaker underneath the players couch.

Each version of the Orbiter features various scenes with different graphics, sounds and
behaviour. Some create an illusionary nightsky firmament, playing more melodic or
ambient sounds. Others experiment with the possibilities of graphical abstraction and
rough synths, allowing you to even play drumn bass-like sounds.

The installation is based on custom-built software using latest gaming and computer
vision technology, performing real-time analysis of a camera image of the player as well
as generating 6-channel-audio and video signals. The video analysis is coded in C++,
instructing SuperCollider for the audio generation, Processing for the graphics.

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 orbiter
interactive sound environment
Marcus Wendt & Vera-Maria Glahn

PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS
/ ABOUT THE DOCUMENTATION

The Orbiter has previously been shown at the end-of-term presentation (Rundgang) at
the School of Arts and Design, Kassel (Kunsthochschule Kassel) from July 4-8,
2007,
In September, the Orbiter was presented at the tendence lifestyle design fair in
Frankfurt/Main as part of the Microarchitecture Lounge, a designed area offering
spaces for chill-out and relaxation with exhibits from the Industrial Design department of
the School of Arts and Design, Kassel on invitation of Messe Frankfurt.

The printed photographs show scenes from both installations.

In Kassel, the Orbiter was installed in a very large (8x8m) and completely dark room with
a ceiling screen of 4x4m, 4,50m above the players head. The space provided seating for
viewers and not only for the player.
For the installation in Frankfurt, we had to face minimum spatial possibilities and installed
the piece in a room of 3x3m roofed by a 3x3m projection screen on 3,50m height. The
wall design with the skyline pattern was a special development for the presentation of
the piece in a trade show. For an upcoming presentation, we would however stick to a
color gradient from light on the bottom to dark towards the ceiling, to provide orientation
for the audience.

The provided DVD presents capturings of the three different scenes. In the
installation, the graphics are rendered to fit the projectors native resolution in
60 frames per second, creating a very sharp and delicate image. On DVD, we
can only present a lower resolution and framerate as well as a downsampling
from 6 to 2 audio channels.

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 orbiter
interactive sound environment
Marcus Wendt & Vera-Maria Glahn

SPATIAL REQUIREMENTS

The Orbiter needs a minimum space of 3x3m with a minimum ceiling height of 3,50m,
plus a small back room for the storage of all technical equipment besides the speakers.
As described about the previous presentations, it is, according to the space available,
both possible to have the room as large as the screen, as well as to have a much larger
room with the screen hidden in the dark underneath the ceiling.

The wall between installation space and backroom needs a cutout for the projection
beam, see drawing.
The space should be located in rather quiet neighboorhood have good acoustics to avoid
reverberation. The backroom should be rather soundproof to keep out the drone of the
technical equipment.

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 orbiter
interactive sound environment
Marcus Wendt & Vera-Maria Glahn

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
provided by the artists:
- solid-bourne speaker
- surround receiver / multi-channel amplifier
- bass amplifier

- surveillance camera and lens

- BNC cables
- converter

provided by the Festival:

- 4 monitor speakers
- subwoofer according to space
- audio cables
- data projector with wide angle lens min. 1:1,
preferably Kindermann AX2950 wide
- VGA cable
- Apple Macintosh G5 or MacPro or latest iMac
- dark grey projection screen 4x4m on a wooden frame
preferred material Gerriets SHOW
- mirror min 40x40cm
- wall holders for 4 speakers
- wooden carpet covered couch
- white carpet or floor covering
- light shield for the entrance

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 orbiter
interactive sound environment
Marcus Wendt & Vera-Maria Glahn

BIOGRAPHIES
Marcus Felix Wendt, born 1982 in Schwedt / Oder, grown up in Passau, Bavaria.
Artist and designer working in the field of digital media and audiovisual communication.
Since 2003 student of Prof. Joel Baumann (New Media) and Prof. Bjrn Melhus (Virtual
Realities) at the School of Arts and Design, Kassel. Most interested in interactivity and
the development of playful installations for the applied and artistic context, with an
affection for social observation, theatrical structures in non-linear narratives.

2004 Award for Acoustic Art Rundgang '04 Kunsthochschule Kassel

2004 Klangkunstmuseum Klak!, Kassel
2005 Decibelio Festival (during ARCO Art Fair), Madrid
2005 European Media Art Festival Student Forum, Osnabrck
2005 MONITORING, 22. Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest
2005 development of SENDUNG.net, Platform for Live Visuals
and Experimental Video
presented at transmediale.07 in CONTENT GENERATING USERS
2006 interaction designer in London:
installation Science of Spying: Spyscanner for the Science Museum, London
installation Bright Nights at Union Square Park, New York

www.marcuswendt.com

Vera-Maria Glahn, born 1983 in Paderborn, Westphalia.

Student of Visual Communication at the School of Art and Design in Kassel, in the class
of New Media, Prof. Joel Baumann. Focusing on the design of interactive and integrated
systems as well as on curatorial and productional work.

2004-07 curator of the Audiovisual Performance program of the annual

Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival
2005 development of SENDUNG.net, Platform for Live Visuals
and Experimental Video
presented at transmediale.07 in CONTENT GENERATING USERS
2006 curatorial and productional assistant at V2_Institute for the Unstable Media,
Rotterdam for the exhibition
Electromagnetic Bodies. Aether, Desire and Resonance in Art and Technology
2007 curatorial and productional assistant at V2_Institute for the Unstable Media,
Rotterdam for DEAF07 / Dutch Electronic Art Festival

www.veraglahn.de