Looking Outwards 10: Computer Music

The staircase to the staircase from the ground floor to the basement of Hunt Library here at Carnegie Mellon University has an installation designed to be interactive between those who use the stairwell. The light installation creates a noise with different frequencies and tones based on the location of the person. Then, in the end, there is a chime to signify a goal met.

This project is taking an everyday task and filling it with fun and excitement. The student secured permission to place the installation and started working on how to track movement. He was able to use the OpenPose library from the CMU Perceptual Computing lab and the Unity 3D game engine to find positions. I admired how the developer had an idea and kept working at it and acknowledged that it is not complete. He batted with a lot of creative choices like whether he wanted it to be noticeably interactive or a hidden display.

The code and more information can be found here.