Neoperceptions
Spring 2018 to present.
Project Leading/Managing, Garment and Visual Design, Fundraising, Writing by Siranush.
Synesthesia Garments, five : 12 0.5 x 1 m optic fiber fabrics, acrylic rope molds, laser-cut black artificial leather, black tulle filling. Electronic components constitute custom-made chains of 12 LEDs and a portable arduino, controlled wirelessly through Neoperceptions mastercode, available open-source on Github. Mastercode translates audio information picked up by individual microphones in LIVE regime. Sponsored in part by Council for Arts at MIT.
We explore human cognitive/sensory augmentation as an art-meets-science project Neoperceptions.
Team includes researchers at the MIT Physics, Media Lab, and ASU Sci Hub — advised by Prof Frank Wilczek (Nobel laureate in Physics) and Prof Nathan Newman.
The “Neoperceptions” team created live-performance technology that displays the real-time color patterns that synesthetic composer Mary Bichner associates with her music, allowing audience members to “hear” color and “see” sound just as synesthesia would have allowed them to do. The visuals also include an intricate design of garments for the performers made of conductive and light-transmitting materials, which translate the music of the performers into light patterns on their costumes. The initiative was funded in part by Council for Arts at MIT grant.
The prototype for this technology premiered during Bichner’s “Synesthesia Suite” concert at the Charles Hayden Planetarium in 2019, in the form of LED panels attached to audio capturing devices and placed strategically around the planetarium’s full 360-degree dome, dome projections, and garments. It has been exhibited at MIT Design Week, MIT Media Lab and other events.
Light it up…
“Lost“ and “Finale”, performed by Mary Bichner and Planetary Quartet during "Synesthesia Suite" at the Museum of Science Boston's Charles Hayden Planetarium on April 4th, 2019. In order to display the various colors and impressions that Mary, a polymodal synesthete, experiences when listening to music, the concert featured both synesthesia-inspired visuals created by the Museum of Science Boston's award-winning planetarium team and Neoperception team; and sound-responsive, synesthesia-displaying LED garments created by MIT's Neoperceptions initiative.
Color Perception Technology class
I also TAed for Color Perception Technology class taught by Frank Wilczek over Independent Activities Period at MIT (for which I made this video).
