Elevator Music has developed alongside a new technology which forms the basis of the performance mechanism for participants.

Description

Modular elements can be combined such that their relative orientations inform and define a resulting output algorithmically to create a score for a multi-media narrative. The user-defined script will be constructed by interacting with the form in a variety of ways. Participants may influence media output through the manipulation of an individual unit or they may choose to interact holistically with the net structure. Output will be determined by the relative orientations of the modular elements as well as additional composite factors such as assembly acceleration or orientation relative to gravity.

Modular Elements

The modular elements can be any physical shape such that they are capable of creating an electronic and physical connection to one another. Ideally, the physical shape of the elements will additionally allow multiple orientations between one another, with the ability to shift between orientations without physically or electronically disconnecting from one another. 

An example of a shape that allows this is a cube. Two cubes can be connected face-to-face in 36 orientations: face 1 to face 1, face 1 to face 2, etc. Each of these face-to-face connections additionally has 4 possible rotational orientations: corner 1 to corner 1 (2-2, 3-3, 4-4), corner 1 to corner 2 (2-3, 3-4, 4-1), etc. Therefore, two cubes with face-to-face and rotational freedom have 144 possible connections. An additional cube with the same freedoms has 240 possible connections (10 existing faces, 6 new faces with 4 orientations each). Therefore, 3 cubes with face-to-face and rotational freedom have 34,560 possible connections. Each additional cube added will continue to increase the possible combinations exponentially.

The design of cubic modular elements accounts for the ability to rotate two cube faces relative to one another, or change the cube faces oriented towards one another, without breaking the physical and electrical connection. 

Algorithmic Output

The algorithmic output is determined by the relative orientations of the component modular elements as well as additional composite factors such as assembly acceleration or orientation relative to gravity. The orientations of the component modular elements will result in a unique algorithmic output, which is further modified by the user through the additional composite factors. 

For instance, continuing with the example of modular cubes, if each face of the cube is given a letter designator, and each rotational orientation is given a number, then two joined cubes would yield an output such as [A1][B2]. Note that the combination of cubes will be directional, and therefore the algorithmic output is not reflexive. That is, [A1][B2] does not equal [B2][A1], and the application of the algorithmic output will determine the relationship between the two. 

If additional composite factors are added in, such as orientation relative to gravity, the resulting algorithmic output would in turn be modified by the additional composite factors. For instance, the output of two cubes would be further modified by the composite orientation consisting of a three dimensional vector in a manner such as: [A1][B2][sin(𝝰)sin(𝝱)sin(𝝲)].

The algorithmic output can be applied to nearly anything, and is limited only by the ability to create and define the algorithm. An example of a possible application is music. 

Application of Algorithmic Output

The musical application of the algorithmic output could work as follows: each cube individually represents a particular musical instrument’s (or assembly of instruments’) contribution to a song. The orientation of that cube to another dictates the melody or rhythm that instrument plays. The resulting song would therefore be changed by altering the orientation of the faces of the cubes relative to one another, thus changing the contributions of those particular instruments to the net song, based on the design of the underlying algorithm.

Alternate applications are effectively limitless: remote control of the motion of complex servos or other equipment; the creation of visual patterns, shapes or art; overarching guidance of a large number of semi-autonomous robots.