NIME 2014 (New Interfaces for Musical Expression)

Rhythm Apparatus on Overhead
Christian Faubel
Academy of Media Arts Cologne

Short Paper

In the paper I present a robotic device that offers new ways of interaction for producing rhythmic patterns. The apparatus is placed on an overhead projector and a visual presentation of these rhythmic patterns is delivered as a shadow play. The rhythmic patterns can be manipulated by modifying the environment of the robot, through direct physical interaction with the robot, by rewiring the internal connectivity, and by adjusting internal parameters. The theory of embodied cognition provides the theoretical basis of this device. The core postulate of embodied cognition is that biological behavior can only be understood through an understanding of the real-time interactions of an organism's nervous system, the organism's body and the environment. One the one hand the device illustrates this theory because the patterns that are created equally depend on the real-time interactions of the electronics, the physical structure of the device and the environment. On the other hand the device presents a synthesis of these ideas and it is effectively possible to play with it at all the three levels, the electronics, the physical configuration of the robot and the environment.