Fluid Audio-Visual Explorations in the Digital Era

The design of Audio-visual software interventions continues a long tradition of artist developed technologies in the field. The current opportunities in digital technologies offer the ability to realise the long-held synesthetic fantasies of pioneers in art and science.

This project details software interventions that respond to artist’s difficulties in managing convoluted audio-visual projects and simulate project outcomes. An iterative design process has informed a custom software package built with C++ in OpenFrameworks. The designed software offers the convenient handling of standard audio-visual inputs and outputs as well as new protocols for sharing digital textures, Spout and NDI.

The ability to send textures out of the software in real-time allows simulation of experiences in contemporary 3D virtual formats. Included among the design interventions are custom templates for virtual reality projects in Unreal Engine 4 that accept Spout and NDI formats.

These interventions supply audio-visual artists with the tools to manage their project’s complexities and convincingly simulate their audio-visual designs, in real-time, to prospective clients and curators. These benefits ultimately enable artists to continue to push the boundaries of audio-visual exploration within the contemporary digital landscape.