Mixed Reality Musical Art Experience

 In CraneMorley, Mixed Reality Industry Insight

Situated within New York’s Rockefeller Center, displayed at the Top of the Rock, is a distinctive exhibit. The display features an empty room housing a Yamaha electric piano and QR code printouts adorning the walls. Artist Sarah Meyohas, in collaboration with immersive creative studio Superbright, has crafted a unique mixed reality musical art experience. This innovative presentation, open until September 15, offers attendees a fresh and captivating musical encounter.

The mechanics of this experience involve positioning a piano at the room’s center, synchronized to play autonomously. When visitors enter the room wearing the Microsoft HoloLens Mixed Reality headset, the piano springs to life, playing a musical composition inspired by an ‘electromagnetic dawn chorus’—a misinterpretation of electronic waves that emulate bird chirps. As users traverse the room, viewing it from every angle, holographic birds take flight, seemingly chirping in sync with the music. The level of immersion is akin to real life. Interestingly, if a visitor extends their hand, a holographic bird will alight on their hand, akin to a petting zoo interaction.

However, the utilization of technology doesn’t conclude here. As the holographic birds flit about, interacting with both the piano and the audience, the musical composition evolves. The dawn chorus leverages QR codes strategically placed on the walls, aiding the HoloLens in recognizing and displaying various images where the birds emerge from. These images could depict nighttime in a forest or daytime on a beach.

The piano serves a conceptual role as a gathering point for the birds. The music serves as a poignant reminder of the enchanting nature of bird vocalizations, often described as bird songs. Igal Nassima, founder of Superbright, explains that the “Dawn Chorus is a sound installation in which we use Augmented Reality as a medium to emphasize the relationship between music, nature, and ourselves.”

One reviewer aptly characterized this experience as akin to walking through a scene from a Disney movie, with birds reminiscent of Snow White’s fluttering companions surrounding you.

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