Respire
Respire brings together three components: a virtual environment (via head-mounted display-HTC Vive), embodied interaction (via a respiration sensor), and an intelligent musical agent to listen to breathing patterns and generate the sound with affective properties. Respire guides its users to reconnect with an embodied experience, often lost in our interaction with new and emerging technologies. Built upon mindfulness principles, in this piece breathing is utilized as an object of the user’s attention through impermanence of virtual landscapes and audio environment. The changes in Respire are generated directly from changes in breathing patterns, as the user becomes aware of their breath and the agency they have in the environment.
The musical agent listens to the user’s breathing and takes the user on a journey through abstracted worlds with different affective qualities creating a user-dependent narrative. From the calm to stormy oceans and ambiguous architectures that one is immersed in and that elicit curiosity; this is a journey within one’s own breathing. The environment allows each audience member to create their alternate realities based on the interaction between two dynamic systems: the user and the system. This makes each journey unique and unrepeatable.
duration: 5 minutes
Authors: Mirjana Prpa, Kivanc Tatar, Philippe Pasquier
