I am pretty excited about my next project, which will be appearing at Conflux. In Serendipitous Anthems, an audio spotlight follows people as they walk down the block projecting a personal music anthem to them, dynamically generated based on their walking speed, the weather, and other factors.

Project Description:
Traversing urban space is frequently associated with thematic music. Music flavors the psychological affect of space. This is often intentional, with the rhythms of walking synced to the music on iPods or the muzak in a shopping center. In Serendipitous Anthems, thematic music follows a single individual as they walk through the 120-300 foot area covered by the project. It relies on the uncanny experience provided by ultrasound audio technology, which broadcasts a narrow beam of sound from a distance, to provide the music heard by only one person, seemingly from nowhere. Two cameras detecting motion software are able to monitor individual movement, and control a motor which positions the speaker to the correct location. Overall foot traffic, walking speed, weather, time of day, and sunlight are data sets analyzed by custom software, and converted into MIDI messages, controlling music generation. The music begins with a simple 4/4 dance beat matched to the pace of movement. Chord progressions based on the determined mood of the space are triggered after the first 5 seconds. If the user stops, the music dies down, if they reverse direction, the music plays in reverse. Serendipitous Anthems aims to use music to change the psychogeography of the street it is installed in. The schizophrenic experience afforded by the speaker technology transforms the normative journey down the block into a unique and particular one. Those outside of the sound will be influenced by the behavior of the person experiencing it.