If you’ve dreamed of navigating through virtual reality worlds with just your hands, a la the movie Minority Report

, you’ll like the prototype of CINE (Collaborative Immersive Network Environment) by Miro Kirov, Houston Riley, and James Tunick with advisors Jean-Marc Gauthier and Frank Migliorelli (yes, it’s those crazy NYU ITP folks again!) Full-body gestures let you navigate in 3D.

I tried out CINE at the Studio IMC Expo. It’s certainly fun to play with, though keep in mind in prototype phase it has a ways to go before it lives up to some of its lofty design goals. There are possibilities for music and sound, too, though: the up-front interface is apparently Max/MSP. So if you’re looking to mix the Holodeck with musical performance, there may be promise.

See CDM’s IMC Expo report for more shots of this and other showcased creations.

Here’s my kind of elective: grad students at NYU’s ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) will be presenting new musical instruments they’ve invented tonight (Wednesday) at Tonic, 8:00 PM. Any NYC-based CDM readers going to make it?

CALLING CDM READERS FROM ITP: Yes, I know you read. So can someone please email me and let me know how late the show is running tonight? I may be able to get my computer music class at Hunter College out early so we can come down and see y’all. Among other things, I want to see that ping-pong instrument I’m hearing about. Anyone taking pictures, I could use your help, too.

Mocean
is an interactive installation that uses a tank of water as an
interface for sound. Dip your hands in the tank, and the installation
whistles and hums. The water doesn't create the sound directly;
instead, an array of antique organ pipes resonate above the tank,
triggered by a video camera that analyzes pictures of the water.
(Complex but interesting solution!) Mocean was created by Maia
Marinelli, Jared Lamenzo, and Liubo Borissov (in NYU's Interactive
Telecommunications Program or ITP); I found out about it as I'm in a residency now with Liubo at Dance Theater Workshop here in New York.

I hope others try water-based experiments, too; I saw something
similar at a 42nd-street space called The Tank. Watching the video,
while the sound is eerie and lovely, I think I'm more taken by how
expressive the water itself is. Other sensor solutions might make other
liquid interfaces create new musical sounds.