December 20, 2021

unsequence.net

unsequence.net is a mobile website that lets the audience and performer to exchange sound and visual interactions in real time. It is an experiment letting the audience and performer to exchange their sense of agency – acoustically and visually.

Performer writing prompt to audience that reads: Please go to unsequence.net on your mobile phones.
Audiences listening to their phones to hear which sound they're making
Audiences waving their phones to make sounds from their phone
Audiences waving their phones to make sounds from their phone
Performer writing prompt to audience that reads: If you're standing still, listen to your right.

The performance took place as an audience participatory performance that uses a mobile website of the same name. The audience built and exchanged layers of sounds and visuals in unison with the performer as they perform certain actions with their mobile devices.

How it works

Link to slides

screen capture of unsequence.net where you have multiple 3d objects, representing each sound from the audience, floating around a black screen
Diagram explaining how the performance website works: audiences access website and make sounds with their phone speakers. The sound that audiences make are represented visually in the performer's screen.
Diagram explaining different web technologies used to build the website: node.js, ws, three.js, deviceorientation api, tone.js

Audience

When the performance starts, the audience is asked to go unsequence.net. The audience mode of the website has floating geometric object which represents different sounds coming out from the web browser. The audience can control the sound via tilting and tapping on the shape. During the performance, the audience will be asked to perform certain actions using sounds coming out from their own mobile phones.

Performer

The performer’s role is to modulate existing sounds from the audience by dragging and changing the scale of different geometric object that is floating around the screen. The performer also ‘performs’ prompts to the audience (e.g. listening to other people’s sounds, waving hands, moving around in circles) to add a live element in collaboration with the audience.

Performance

unsequence.net was performed in ITP’s NIME show at December 2021. Video documentation is currently in progress.