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Flocking Orchestra Freeware (DT1)

Friday, February 29th, 2008
at 12:21am

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We in the live community are software addicts. I keep staying up way too late, playing with different software. The other night, I was scanning my RSS feeds, and came across this app that didn’t sound very interesting at first… until I tried it out.

DT1 Flocking Orchestra is an interactive installation to play music by visually conducting flocking agents in the 3D virtual space. It employs flocking algorithms to produce music and visuals. The user’s motions are captured by a video camera and influence the flocks behaviour. Each agent moving in a virtual 3D space controls a MIDI instrument whose playing style depends on the agent’s state. In this system, the user acts as a conductor influencing the flock’s musical activity. In addition to gestural interaction, the acoustic properties of the system can be modified on the fly by using an intuitive GUI. The acoustical and visual output of the system results from the combination of the flock’s and user’s behaviour. It therefore creates on the behavioural level a mixing of natural and artificial reality. The system has been designed to run an a variety of different computational configuration ranging from small laptops to exhibition scale installations.

There is so much about this application that is tweakable. You can change literally every setting. It’s so cool, I was quickly addicted to it. There is an absolutely AMAZING story behind this program.

This collaborative work by Daniel Bisig in Switzerland and Tatsuo Unemi in Japan implements a mathematical model of flocking behavior that was developed in artificial life research. In its current form, it is inspired by a true story of a girl who has died from leukemia 50 years ago in Hiroshima. Her name is Sadako. She was exposed to atomic bombing when she was two years old. Her health was perfect during the nine years following the bombing. But all of the sudden she had to be hospitalised during February 1955. Lying in a hospital bed, she folding many paper cranes. According to a Japanese legend, by folding one thousand paper cranes, one’s wish becomes true. Sadly, her own wish remained unfulfilled and her life ended 50 years ago.

The images which texture the walls of the virtual space stem from photographs that one of the authors shot in 2003 at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima during a funeral ceremony of his friend. The image of the back wall depicts the Children’s Peace Monument which was established in 1958 by school classmates of Sadako. Every year, many groups of school students fold paper cranes and bring them to this monument where they swear to contribute to a more peaceful world.

Very, very cool. Be sure to check it out!

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38 Comments

djsims2

February 29th, 2008
at 2:35am

You are a pathetic peice of junk

Jansplurge

February 29th, 2008
at 4:25am

Why dont you dive back into your 50’s recordbasement and try your “pathetic” dance again on surfin USA… Chris might be a geek but you are the definition of a nerd.

Its 2008, you grow up.

max1018

February 29th, 2008
at 8:04am

Bye, you won’t be missed.

max1018

February 29th, 2008
at 8:06am

I think it’s funny how the people who are complaining about the software not being available for Windows are the ones who always say that OS X has no software.

You just got to laugh…

jiggles020

February 29th, 2008
at 8:25am

yay your not ignorant!

nt0xxik8ed

February 29th, 2008
at 8:43am

i returned a macbook, that took 2 weeks and was the worst customer service ever. apple made canceling aol look user friendly. you’re 100% correct about it being junk, it’s over hyped over priced garbage and i fell for it, too…

nt0xxik8ed

February 29th, 2008
at 8:44am

i’ll laugh when you need to get that crapbook repaired, lmao

neills

February 29th, 2008
at 8:50am

AHAH. Apple has the best customer service in the business.

tw9823555

February 29th, 2008
at 10:18am

lol wtf o.O idk why i posted rofl so bored o.o

msimon1991

February 29th, 2008
at 10:22am

This software is very cool.
it lets me do alot of thing with different color,
plus i can put together different picture

sab5118

February 29th, 2008
at 11:09am

I’m going to have to check this software out

zeldadevideos

February 29th, 2008
at 11:22am

cool u also know the trick to zoom in

control and use the little ball in the mouse

or was it option

summd16

February 29th, 2008
at 11:31am

this was so cool when i watched it live, thanks for putting this up.

irishkendoll

February 29th, 2008
at 11:51am

(y) Way to go again chris!

Windows Vista Torrent

February 29th, 2008
at 12:11pm

Tech InterviewsFlocking Orchestra Freeware (DT1)PC or Mac for Education? What Kind of Food do They Eat in Scotland? Screen Color Correction with Pantone Huey Pro How to Create Your Own Wallpapers with Oxidizer Are You Ready for Blu-Ray DVD?

fraikonz

February 29th, 2008
at 12:44pm

Aww it’s not for Windows I would love to try this out. Oh well I have a reality orchestra already, not being a conductor though =P

AdmiralJaneway

February 29th, 2008
at 1:30pm

wow Chris!! you have made 100 videos in a matter of a 3-4 weeks and you have 100 more videos! keep it up man!

hichez

February 29th, 2008
at 2:44pm

Im so jealous right now. I was looking for a program like this for windows. I could be old fashioned and do music not by note(i know how to read music) but I do that enough on a regular basis. Owell…

Gehrbox

February 29th, 2008
at 6:50pm

As much as this app is technically cool for the optical tracking, I can’t see the tones generated being considered musical.

David AKA Arcane

February 29th, 2008
at 7:21pm

Hey Chris, I watched your video and read your blog about this. This is a really neat piece of software. Too bad its not for windows! Things like this would make me want to get a mac lol, and I’m a big skeptic about macs. Well keep finding interesting software and find some windows freebies for us too :D

David

PureWhimsy

February 29th, 2008
at 7:34pm

This would be great to have if you have kids and want to get them interested in conducting or musical composition. This would be really great for wanna-be orchestra conductors as well. My orchestra teacher would like this just so that we would learn our scales and how to tell Major from Minors.

SerenadedAbyss

February 29th, 2008
at 7:38pm

Sounds like an awesome application I would buy a mac just to try that out and make some music… I wonder if there will be a port of it for Windows?

Cybergeek2021

February 29th, 2008
at 8:10pm

Wow chris this sounds really cool! even though i am in an orchestra myself it still seems way cool that i could conduct a virtual orchestra on my mac! i will try this out!

modman3

February 29th, 2008
at 8:33pm

This software is amazeing it is so interactive and user friendly i love this but i dont have a mac but what i saw from the video i loved to the point i wished it were fo pc but i dont its good that it is on a mac well i just love the software from what ive seen most advanced

Julius

February 29th, 2008
at 9:52pm

Nice chris this is an excellent program you have. If only i had a mac Pro. But apparently I don’t because i don’t want to waist my money on one thing. Ha ill stick with windows for a while, or maybe since i watched most of your videos from your blogs you make me want to get a mac one day. But until then im sticking with windows.

Sirjj

February 29th, 2008
at 9:57pm

Nice program chris it looks amazing. If i had a mac pro i would install this as soon as i got it. I might be getting one after pay day though. This video convinces me to switch to mac. In my mind i have know idea macs were great for those types of things. Thank You for posting this video chris.

jogie

February 29th, 2008
at 10:33pm

Wow, that looks like an excellent program. MIDI is definitely cool. If i only had a mac now. Chris, you’re making me want a mac more and more every day!

Macmanx

February 29th, 2008
at 10:55pm

very unique app. seemed kinda weird at first. but when i downloaded and tried it, its pretty unique

Nathan

February 29th, 2008
at 10:58pm

This is really cool stuff, reminds me of all the cool evolution simulators you can get.
It’s really cool to see alife applied to something creative.

rebirth13579

February 29th, 2008
at 11:12pm

Ugh wish it were for windows as well. Oh well. That is one awesome program though, I really enjoy messing with stuff like that. Not bad for freeware either.

PS my first post here! Been watching your YouTube vidz for a while now. Enjoy every minute.

Conor-9004

March 1st, 2008
at 7:00am

Cool!

nanciesweb

March 2nd, 2008
at 10:07pm

I need to find the Windows equivalent. Or better yet, the linux equivalent since we are going to be installing edubuntu on the kids’ computer. My kids would love it.

xxafrosamuraixx

March 4th, 2008
at 6:34am

holy ****, u must be loaded to have ******* 3 monitors

tanguy88

March 28th, 2008
at 7:26am

thanks for this great freeware
keep it up

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