The Fall Beyond Tomorrow’s Life is an interactive environment that unites water and sound. The primary components of the piece are a volume of water, a hexagonal multichannel speaker array and a computer vision apparatus. The computer vision component is positioned above the volume of water and captures the motion of the surface of the water. This interaction and the resultant waves are captured by the camera and translated into spatialized sound via custom software. The volume of water is an analog of the room in which it is placed - interaction in specific areas of the volume cause sounds in a corresponding area of the room.

The impetus of this project was the investigation of water as an interface for the creation of sonic events. Water is inextricably tied to human existence and therefore holds the potential of a unique membrane of interaction. It has alternately symbolized life, love, death, rebirth and renewal in myriad cultures and is never far from anyone’s conscious mind in this era of mass environmental concern. I seek to create an environment that has at its core a volume of water, which the viewer encounters with little or no added artifice. When the viewer touches the surface of the water, sounds resonate accordingly.

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JD Pirtle, The Fall Beyond Tomorrow’s Life, Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in New Media Arts, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Chicago, August 1st, 2010. http://jdpirtle.com/fall.html