Open Access

Daniel Bisig, Ephraim Wegner, Aaron Bühler, Daniel Fetzner

• Sonosphere is an audiovisual installation and platform for performance works that combine contemporary dance, electronic music, computer-generated visuals, and generative AI. Simultaneously, Sonosphere functions as a digital musical instrument played through dance movements in space. These movements can be generated either by a human dancer or by a generative AI trained on previously recordedSonosphere is an audiovisual installation and platform for performance works that combine contemporary dance, electronic music, computer-generated visuals, and generative AI. Simultaneously, Sonosphere functions as a digital musical instrument played through dance movements in space. These movements can be generated either by a human dancer or by a generative AI trained on previously recorded dance movements. The mediator between the instrument and the dancing entity is an avatar that is surrounded by a virtual sphere. Sound-generating points are placed on the surface of this sphere. The avatar executes the movements performed by the dancing entity. When these movements bring the avatar’s extremities close to the sphere’s surface, the sound points located there are activated. The combination of avatar and sound points is made both audible and visible. The activated sound points emit sounds that are generated from recorded audio material. The avatar and sound points are graphically rendered as a unified abstract visual entity. Over the past two years, students and lecturers at Offenburg University have experimented with this setting in collaboration with a dancer and created several artistic works for the Sonosphere. These works are publicly shown for the first time at this year’s xCoAx conference in the format of a concert performance. During the concert, the works are remixed in a live improvisation. The improvisation involves the manipulation of the movement-generating AI and the control of parameters for sound generation and graphical rendering.…