ARC 

The ARC is an interactive music experience leveraging our experience in light, music, interaction, and physical design. It was developed for Deloitte Digital who came to us with the question “What is the future of music?” as a prompt for their presence at SXSW 2016. We focused the concept for the experience around a collaboration between artist and audience, enabled by a series of unique tactile instruments.

Featuring a constantly evolving composition created by Grammy-nominated artist RAC, the project embodied a new frontier in live performance and recorded music through a living, evolving arrangement. The music was able to be explored and influenced by the participating audience.

The five distinct instruments were designed for both musicians and non-musicians alike, allowing control of both the rhythms and melodies. Each instrument had a multi-dimensional impact on the overall experience, changing qualities in the immersive lighting, sonic textures of the mix, and patterns in the song. 

The ring of 20 speakers that surrounded the audience was unified into a spatial field of sound that allowed each part of the arrangement to orbit in independent directions. Certain sounds gently rotated while others energetically bounced from one side of the room to the other. 

CREDITS:

Dave Rife & Gabe Liberti - Design, Direction, Software & Hardware Development
Future Wife - Visual Design and Light Animation
RAC - Music
Yotam Mann - Music Interaction Design and Programming
Gamma NYC - Digital Fabrication Lead
Daniel Schaeffer - Light Animation & LED Tech

Photos & Video: Jeff Osborne

Commissioned by Deloitte Digital
Public Relations: Small Girls PR

MORE PROJECTS