Ambisonic Mixing Bowl
Nick Gang, Wisam Reid
This project seeks to provide spatial audio artists and engineers with a tactile interface for real-time ambisonic panning. Users move and rotate physical magnetic objects around the surface of an acrylic dome. Positions and angles of rotation are tracked with an under-mounted camera and lighting system, processed with reacTIVision’s open source computer vision software, and sent to Spat to control the spatialization. The dome’s spherical shape mimics possible source locations surrounding the listener. The sound source symbols inform the user of the state of the system, and allow for immediate changes in three dimensions with one gesture.
Git Repo:
Research Links:
Code:
Materials:
- Serial JPEG camera
- USB camera module
- Camera Module – Amazon
- PRL Materials List
- TAP Plastics Mylar Rolls
Initial Sketch:
Progress Update 1:
- Camera comes in + initial Max interface
- For visual feedback swapped out sliders of pictslider (x/y)
- Stealing kitchen bowl as stand-in for dome, ordered acryllic hemisphere
- Mounting camera module to cardboard box so it points straight up
- Using larger box to prop up bowl higher
- trying to find optimal height above camera
- Starting to test effect of lighting on performance
- Plugging x/y/rotation data into Spat, rotation controlling yaw
- Testing two sources simultaneously, using noise for sound sources
- Sketching out box that will hold camera and lighting
- Thinking of wood with lip that bowl can sit on
- Lip could have FSRs to measure pressure on bowl
Progress Update #2:
Building the Box Top
- Chose stainless IKEA bowl as vac form buck
- Attempt 1:
- Holes drilled in plywood square weren’t big enough
- no suction around edge of bowl (second picture below).
- Attempts 2-5:
- Tossed plywood, placed bowl directly on platform
- Increased heat in outer regions, they need to stretch more
- Realized the bowl gets stuck in the acrylic. Had to make small crack to get it out
- Tried jigsaw for cutting acrylic against wood, no bueno
- Clamping, scoring, and snapping works much better
- Fixed crack in dome with acrylic cement
- Laser cut two wood pieces to sandwich excess acrylic
Building the Box
- Purchased nice looking poplar boards
- Un-warped boards with clamps while screwing sides
- Counter-synced screw holes so screw tops are inset
- Wood glued sides together when final screw go in
- Screwed on MDF Bottom
- Started oiling wood
- Fit box top on interior wood blocks
- Testing lighting in the listening room