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Sound Bubbles

Virtual Turntable

Wireless Slider

The iClub is a system featuring sound, graphics, and interactive elements that enhance the experience of visitors to dance clubs. This system enables new possibilities for immersion and interaction in the dance club's already rich sensory environment.

Demonstration Video

Description: Joshua Samberg demonstrates highlights of the iClub
Length: 2:17

[ Download/Play ] == AVI High Quality, 320x240, 15.0MB
[ Download/Play ] == AVI Medium Quality, 160x120, 5.4MB
[ Download/Play ] == QuickTime High Quality, 320x240, 13.3MB

iClub Details

Software in the iClub detects the beats and frequencies in the music played in the club, then broadcasts them over a network to the entire club space. Visualizations on large, high-resolution touch screens on walls and tables use this information to create graphics that are synchronized to the beat of the music and respond to the frequencies in it. The screens allow the club visitors to influence both graphics and sound by touching them. The entertainment on the screens includes:

• Sound Bubbles - These bubbles float around all the screens in the club, passing from one screen to the next when they cross a screen's edge. Touching a bubble causes it to pop and simultaneously generates one of several sound effects that is mixed in with the music. The bubbles are periodically regenerated after being popped so that there are always some to chase.
• Virtual Turntable - Running a hand in either direction over this image of a turntable will speed up or slow down the playback of the music, much as a DJ can do with his hands on a real record.
• Dancing Dolls - Touching empty space on some screens will create a small dancing doll on that spot. The doll dances in time to the music in the club and fades away after a random amount of time.
• Sound Spectrum Fountain - This graphical fountain is composed of a circle of columns of cosmic liquid whose heights change based on the frequency content of the music. The base circle of the fountain expands and contracts with each beat of the song being played.

Wireless devices are also used for interaction in the iClub environment, including:

• Wireless Sliders - These devices can be used anywhere in the dance club space to control filter effects applied to the music.
• Visitor Polling - Small wireless touch screens present the opportunity to vote on which song will be played next.

The iClub system is easily extensible so that new screens, devices, visualizations, or games can be added without requiring any recompilation of existing software or reconfiguration of existing hardware.