iSoundScape: Adaptive Walk on a Fitness Soundscape

Adaptive walk on a fitness soundscape [7] is a new kind of interactive evolutionary computation for musical works. This system provides a virtual two-dimensional grid called a “soundscape” in which each point corresponds to a genotype that generates a sound environment. By using the human abilities of localization and selective listening, the user can “walk” toward genotypes that generate more favorable sounds. This corresponds to a hill-climbing process on the “fitness soundscape.” This environment can be realized by multiple speakers or a headphone creating “surround sound.” In this work we describe two new applications of adaptive walk. The first is developed for creating spatially grounded musical pieces as an interactive art based on fitness soundscapes. The second provides a new way to explore the ecology and evolution of bird songs, from scientific and educational viewpoints, by exploring the ecological space of “nature’s music”, produced by populations of virtual songbirds.