drew detweiler + lyes belhocine: inspired performance mixer infiniti digital art competition shortlisted entry

‘infiniti inspired performance mixer’ by drew detweiler and lyes belhocine

the ‘inspired performance mixer’ by US-based interaction designers drew detweiler + lyes belhocine is an interactive installation that permits visitors to mix audio video files in realtime through capacitive touch controls and the manipulation of plexiglass cubes.  the artists designed the piece, which integrates several of their previously tested realtime multimedia mixing technology, for designboom’s ‘infiniti digital art competition‘, which asked participants to design innovative or interactive digital artworks under the theme of ‘inspired performance’, for installation in new centers that infiniti is opening throughout europe.

with a twelve-loop audio file as the soundtrack, up to twelve video files can be used for mixing via the ‘inspired performance mixer’ interface at a single time. the software was designed modularly to facilitate the use of different video and audio tracks, requiring only that they be dropped into the proper folder, making the piece easily adaptable to different situations. the interface design throughout is likewise extensible, permitting both output additions like surround sound audio, and diverse input controls.

while a computer monitor displays visual cues, the mixing controls themselves are accomplished through the manipulation of the artists’ ‘cubiic’ cubes and ‘zeum mix’ four-channel laser cut interface, the latter of these designed in the shape of the infiniti logo. the tactile cubes, composed of plexiglass with LEDs and monitored via RFID tags, can be flipped onto different sides to select different audio tracks. through the custom touch interface, video and audio files can be selected, modified, and otherwise mixed to create a constantly changing display.

explanatory video about ‘inspired performance mixer’

example photo of the mixer in use

closer view of the user interface

detail view of the capacitive RFID cube

footage from previous exhibitions of the ‘cubiic’ realtime audio mixing interface

demo of the ‘zeumix’ touch video mixing interface

interface construction diagram: the touch video mixing interface takes the form of the infiniti logo

‘inspired performance mixer’ was one of 21 shortlisted entries in the first round of the ‘infiniti digital art competition’. from these 21 projects, infiniti will select six designs for installation, beginning with the first new center in manchester, UK. stay posted! designboom will announce the six winners the first week of september.

do you have your own vision for an installation? the next round of the ‘infiniti digital art competition’ begins this autumn! a new theme and new design opportunities await your creativity. check back this october to the designboom homepage or competition call.