IX: Sound Perspectives at the SAT

Every year, the internationalIX symposium is a gathering point for enthusiasts of immersive experiences at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT). IX is sold out again for this edition. More than 50% of the 250 participants come from outside Québec. True to its usual spirit of rebellion, the SAT goes against the current. When everyone is talking about image, IX turns its attention to sound perspectives. People are obsessed with image, but we forget that sound is fundamental to immersion, says Luc Courchesne, co-founder of the SAT. It is greatly underestimated. The dome is our audiovisual instrument. We have recorded extensively and developed tools that improve the experience. Spatial capture, procedural audio, virtual acoustics and 3D listening are at the heart of the IX program until June 4. Advances in spherical stereo capture, new virtual-reality headsets and mapping solutions are being explored. Sound space is built without knowing where the viewer will be, whether in a living room or in a dome, adds Mr. Courchesne. With interaction and immersion, this is the beginning of a new medium in its own right. Each evening, the dome opens its doors to new performances. Montréal is a fabulous city for experimentation, says Mr. Courchesne. With the NFB, the video-game and visual-effects industries and all this digital creativity, we have everything we need to be leaders and to play our role in keeping the flag flying above the city. Thursday: Inertia by Desaxismundi and Terminal Wolf. An audiovisual study of movement and speed, and of the forces and resistance of abstract bodies facing physical and punctual changes in their state. Versus by Nonotak. An immersive audiovisual experience questioning the relationships between image and sound in 360 degrees. The spectator is submerged at the centre of an environment that constantly redefines space by breaking the distances

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between projection, audience and screen. Friday: Chronophage by Tind and Création Ex Nihilo. An immersive animation with psychedelic visual accents and a percussive soundtrack, the work is inspired by the concept of chronophagy: something that takes a great deal of time or wastes time. Screens are time-consuming. A time-consuming

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activity. A time-consuming person. Morphogenesis by Can Buyukberber and Yagmur Uyanik. A continuous transformation of fundamental geometric patterns and their use both as the basis of an immersive space and as a visual score for sound, throughout this audiovisual journey into different aspects of physical and biological universes. Light Chaser by Philippe Aubert-Gauthier and Tanya St-Pierre. A sound performance using a light chaser transformed into an analog switching device for spatial audio composition and improvisation. The performance uses sound sources and signals from a classic drum machine and modular synthesizers.