MAPPING SOUNDS IN SPACE WITH IKO
The IKO speaker array (Sonible, 2023) was developed by Sonible and at the Institut für Elektronische Musik und Akustik (IEM) in Graz. One of the most compact higher-order ambisonic arrays in the world, it consists of 20 loudspeakers that work together to form directional, shapable beams of sound. These sound beams are reflected off the surfaces within the listening space to create a spatialised sound environment capable of high-resolution sound localisation and movement (Zotter et al., 2017). While other phenomenological aspects of IKO sound projection are detailed later, it is notable that in contrast to circular or dome-style speaker arrays, the IKO’s use of room reflections achieves a remarkably cohesive sound environment (Wendt et al., 2017). Also the IKO is portable.
Affordances and constraints from the IKO itself informed my design process. The IKO favours moving sound, with static images tending to collapse to a mono-like field. Therefore, spatialized sound trajectories were designed from the form of the vessel (e.g. ‘bowl’, ‘lamp’, ‘windowpane’) in the dataset. Each of these vessel types maps onto easily recognisable spatial behaviours (e.g. uniform planar circular rotation vs individual vertical movement of sound particles). Relationships between vessel type and behaviour are held consistent throughout the dataset.
SPATIALISATION SYSTEM AND MAPPING OF DATA TO SOUND BEHAVIOUR
The IKO speaker array (Sonible, 2023) was developed by Sonible and at the Institut für Elektronische Musik und Akustik (IEM) in Graz. One of the most compact higher-order ambisonic arrays in the world, it consists of 20 loudspeakers that work together to form directional, shapable beams of sound. These sound beams are reflected off the surfaces within the listening space to create a spatialised sound environment capable of high-resolution sound localisation and movement (Zotter, 2017). While other phenomenological aspects of IKO sound projection are detailed later, it is notable that in contrast to circular or dome-style speaker arrays, the IKO’s use of room reflections achieves a remarkably cohesive sound environment (Wendt, 2017). Also the IKO is portable.
Affordances and constraints from the IKO itself informed my design process. The IKO favours moving sound, with static images tending to collapse to a mono-like field. Therefore, spatialized sound trajectories were designed from the form of the vessel (e.g. ‘bowl’, ‘lamp’, ‘windowpane’) in the dataset. Each of these vessel types maps onto easily recognisable spatial behaviours (e.g. uniform planar circular rotation vs individual vertical movement of sound particles). Relationships between vessel type and behaviour are held consistent throughout the dataset.