Helical Keyboard

Publications

Jens Herder, Michael Cohen, "Project Report: Design of a Helical Keyboard", ICAD - International Conference on Auditory Display, Palo Alto, November, 1996 [English][Japanese][Japanese PS 300dpi]

Demonstration

For best results in the following demonstration, which contains HRTF-processed sound, we recommend that you listen using high-quality stereo headphones. If you need the files in a different format, let us know. We tried to reduce the movie file size by reducing the image quality, but for the audio we use full CD quality. If you are interested in the graphics, check out our VRML model.

Scale [quicktime] (2.0 MB) [wav] (0.8 MB) [aiff] (0.8 MB)

You are listening from inside of the helix. The movie shows yourself visualized as an avatar in an exocentric perspective. The notes start playing with C in the lower front of you and go around you until the octave is finished. If you listen carefully and you have a good setup, you will also recognize that the height of the notes is changing from down to up.

Flight (shuttle + follow) [quicktime] (12.4 MB) [wav] (9.2 MB) [aiff] (9.2 MB)

You monitor in an egocentric perspective the helical keyboard. The camera is automatically controlled. Two processes compete for the control. One shuffles between predefined cameras. The other moves to active keys.

Manual interaction [quicktime] (10.1 MB) [wav] (6.3 MB) [aiff] (6.3 MB)

In egocentric perspective, the keys are activated using mouse clicks.

Deformation of the soundscape [quicktime] (12.6 MB) [wav] (6.6 MB) [aiff] (6.6 MB)

With the soundscape deformer the user enlarges, squeezes, and finally shrinks the acoustical space to a point, so that all sound sources are experienced from the same point somewhere in us.

Multiple sinks: upper active [quicktime] (14.3 MB) [wav] (6.3 MB) [aiff] (6.3 MB)

Inside of the helix are two avatars, visualization of yourself. The view is again exocentric. First the lower sink is active.

Multiple sinks: lower active [quicktime] (11.5 MB) [wav] (6.4 MB) [aiff] (6.4 MB)

Now the upper sink is active.

Multiple sinks: both active [quicktime] (11.6 MB) [wav] (6.5 MB) [aiff] (6.5 MB)

Both sinks are active. Experience the scene acoustically by being at two places at the same time. Both soundscapes are folded into each other.

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