Proper Motion (VR Installation)

• Producers/Client: High Road Stories (Mike Robbins & Harmke Heezen)
• Showcased At: BFI London Film Festival (Expanded Section, 2020) - Premiere
• Year: 2020
• My Role: Interactive Music Composer & System Designer

Project Overview

“Proper Motion VR” is an immersive music virtual reality installation inspired by the ever-changing images and sounds of the night sky. In this experience, sound and vision are deeply interconnected, forming a unified whole where human gestures translate into musical expressions. The piece explores the human desire to find meaning in the patterns of the universe, using layers of remapped data—from astronomical phenomena to archived electronic music and motion-captured dance—to create a unique sensory journey.

Key Responsibilities & Contributions in Music & Sound

• Interactive Score Composition: Created an original interactive music score using electro-acoustic music tools and custom coding, primarily in Max/MSP.
• Conceptual Sound Design based on “Mapping”: The core musical idea revolved around various forms of “mapping.” This included:
  • Reinterpreting scientific processes that map electromagnetic spectra (like the sun’s radiation or atmospheric disturbances) to audible sound.
  • Transforming “found musical objects” – such as decades-old electronic music pieces – by remapping and recomposing them into new sonic forms that still hinted at their origins.
  • Translating motion capture data from a dancer into musical gestures and visual elements within the VR space.
• Interconnection of Sound and Vision: Ensured that user actions and interactions within the VR environment had equally apparent visual and sonic consequences, creating a cohesive and reactive experience.
• Max/MSP Programming: Developed the underlying interactive music system and logic using Max/MSP to control the adaptive score and its response to user input and pre-determined data streams.

Technologies Used

• Max/MSP (for interactive music system development)
• Electro-acoustic music composition tools
• Virtual Reality (VR) development platform
• Motion capture data