Sound and music are the original augmented reality technology. Throughout human history, sound and music have played an intrinsic role in magic, ritual, ceremony, and celebration, transforming the mundane into the sublime, marking everyday events as memorable milestones, and enhancing the flow of experience. Acoustic archeologists speculate that certain acoustic properties of ancient monuments were intentionally designed to transform the human voice into something supernatural and that, throughout history, centers of power have been constructed as polished stone surfaces enclosing vast spaces in order to augment the sounds created within them — creating mysterious, impressive, and transformative experiences.
The Norwegian Academy of Music, the University of Oslo Department of Musicology, NOTAM and Symbolic Sound invite you to join us as we explore the theme of Augmenting Reality through talks, live performances, hands-on workshops, and lively discussions at the Kyma International Sound Symposium, KISS 2017 in Oslo Norway 12-15 October 2017.
Theme
It’s not a typo. We’ve intentionally chosen to use the verb augmenting in lieu of the adjective augmented. Augmenting, as a present participle verb is, like sound and music, dynamic, continuous, and in the process of becoming (in contrast to the static, past-tense and merely descriptive adjective, augmented).
We invite proposals for talks, workshops, and live performances related to or audibly demonstrating the use of sound to augment reality, the role of sound in enhancing or transforming reality, and current or future opportunities for using sound to further augment reality. A few ideas to help pique your imagination (and this list is by no means all-inclusive) might include:
- Sound and music as one of the earliest tools used for augmenting reality
- Sound in virtual reality, AR, and mixed reality
- Music as the most widely self-administered drug (the effect of music on the perception of time and reality)
- Augmenting the reality of a live performer — dynamic scores, projecting visual landmarks on performance surfaces, rehearsing in virtual reality, etc.
- Augmenting musical improvisation environments — humans improvising with AIs, novel uses of technology to signal intentions to fellow improvisers
- Using music as the soundtrack of our lives (ubiquity of music on mobile devices and how it affects the creators of sound and music)
- The transformative, enhancing effect of sound and music in film, games and visual arts
- The role (and potential future role) for sound in AR games such as Ingress or Pokemon Go
- AR or mixed reality games as musical scores
- Live performances where physical objects (including instruments) interact with and augment digital synthesis and processing technology
- Live performances where sound augments (or is augmented by) other physical signals such as DMX lighting or OSC-controlled graphic displays
- The audio equivalent of 3D projection mapping graphics
- Transforming ordinary physical objects into sound-producing devices in a virtual world or mixed reality
- Trans-humanism for musicians — augmenting the human body to extend or enhance musical performance: direct brain interfaces, force-multipliers and exoskeletons, bionic ears and eyes, and more
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- Audio and its role in spatial perception
- HRTFs, head-tracking, and the illusion of 3D sound
- Multi-speaker audio presentation: from quad, to wavefield synthesis, to speaker arrays with hundreds of transducers
- New headphone designs for 3D audio
- Heads-up displays for presenting data streams as audio signals
- Echolocation for the rest of us — creating virtual 3D spaces using synthesized impulse responses
Proposal Categories
Proposals are invited in the following general categories:
Keynote on the theme and/or sub theme 60′
Provoke, incite, invite contemplation, and inspire the imaginations of the conference participants on the theme of “Augmenting Reality”.
Performance+Demonstration
Augmenting reality with sound and music during a live performance on an evening concert paired with a technical demonstration of some aspect(s) of that live performance the following day on a paper/demonstration session. Dissect one or more of the Kyma Sounds, Timelines or Multigrids used in the performance, and share tips or tricks with an audience of your fellow practitioners.
Tips and Tricks
Dissect a Kyma object, share an audio illusion, demonstrate a technique for augmenting reality with sound for an audience of fellow professionals.
Desktop Demos
Demonstrate your idea or technique for augmenting reality with sound for a small group clustered around your laptop during the Open Lab.
Workshops in a game format
Propose a hands-on Kyma workshop in a game or quiz-show format, for example, “Create that Sound” where teams race against the clock to re-create a sound or effect using Kyma. Think “Augmented Reality TV” show.
Kyma Speed Dating / Elevator pitches
Submit an interesting Kyma Sound, Timeline or Multigrid. During this session, there will be one Kyma system at the front of the room, pre-loaded with your Sound, Timeline or Multigrids (which are also uploaded to the Kyma Community Library in a special KISS2017 Folder). You will have 5 minutes to wow the audience with a demonstration of a tip, trick, or new discovery in Kyma. Discussions and feedback can continue throughout the conference and throughout the year online.
Important dates
Please enter these into your phone so they don’t slip by:
25 April 2017: Deadline for receipt of proposals
15 May 2017: Notification of acceptance (or requests for further clarification)
12 October 2017: KISS2017 begins
How to make a proposal
Feeling inspired? It’s easy to make a proposal! Click the links below to read the forms and begin formulating your proposal. We recommend you send in your proposals soon, before life gets too busy (and definitely before the 23 April deadline):
Propose a talk or demonstration
Propose a live performance paired with a demonstration
A selection committee will review all proposals in terms of practicality and relevance to the theme. We may contact you with questions. We look forward to reading your proposals!
Questions?
If you have a question about KISS2017, please contact the organizers. Thank you! We look forward to hearing from you!