Beatscape , a Mixed Virtual-Physical Environment for Musical Ensembles

A mixed media tool was created that promotes ensemble virtuosity through tight coordination and interdepence in musical performance. Two different types of performers interact with a virtual space using Wii remote and tangible interfaces using the reacTIVision toolkit [11]. One group of performers uses a tangible tabletop interface to place and move sound objects in a virtual environment. The sound objects are represented by visual avatars and have audio samples associated with them. A second set of performers make use of Wii remotes to create triggering waves that can collide with those sound objects. Sound is only produced upon collision of the waves with the sound objects. What results is a performance in which users must negotiate through a physical and virtual space and are positioned to work together to create musical pieces.