title: snow/space/movement/sound
type: interactive snow-park using music capture technologies and sensors
year: 2011
author/composer: Alexandros Kontogeorgakopoulos (concept, interaction design, sound design, programming), Olivia Kotsifa (snowpark design, co-creation, interaction design), H05 freestyle snowpark company (snowpark design, snowboarders)
funded by: Strategic Insight Program SIP, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales Innovation and Engagement Fund
first exhibition / demonstration: Meribel snowpark, French Alpes, France, April 2011
The project focus was to create a responsive sonic and music environment for snowboarders which enhances their performance and their overall experience. Interactive technologies (motion capture systems, sensors, microcontrollers and a laptop) were used to generate or alter music material influenced directly by the snowboarders movement in a snowpark in the Alps (Meribel ski resort), co-designed for this purpose by the team.
The following video presents some of the experiments that took place in the snowpark.
More info about the aesthetics and the technological aspects of the work can be found in From Snow to Space to Movement to Sound in the Proceedings of Sound and Music Computing Conference SMC11 and in the Journal paper My Content / My Space / My Music Organised Sound Journal Vol18 (1).