Adrift

Computer-generated audio/visual work
Lance Putnam (2011), 7 min 29 sec
Video (360p)





Adrift is an audio/visual composition made for the AlloSphere 3D immersive environment. The goal of the work is to allow one to (intuitively) experience what it could be like to be inside a mathematical space embodied through unified visual and aural sensations. The underlying algorithm is a recursive matrix multiplication that generates a continuous sequence of coordinates. Adjusting the matrix coefficients gives an endless variety of both regular and complex patterns. The work interpolates from one parameter set to another producing an evolving visual and sonic environment.

The coordinates are graphed in space as oriented triangles and connected in sequence with light-like "rays". Sound is generated by scanning along the rays and mapping the position information to the phases of several sine oscillators. The sound is spatialized according to the position of the viewer allowing local timbres to be emphasized and transition as the space is traversed.

Adrift was programmed using the C++ libraries AlloSystem, Gamma, and GLV.