SPINLOCK
Interactive installation / VR installation, with sound by Rodger Ruzanka.
is an interactive, immersive virtual reality installation that combines abstract form, physics-based animation, and generative sound processes. A virtual object unfolds and transforms into complex permutations in response to the user’s actions. Every motion or button pressed triggers new orbits, sounds, and forms. Left alone, the object slowly returns to some type of equilibrium; but attempts to control it are often complicated by its own reckless momentum.
The myriad components are meant to evoke mechanical and organic imagery; some are modeled after machine parts, while others are extruded from abstract hand-drawn shapes. Part interactive sculpture and part musical instrument, SPINLOCK is a hypnotic experiment in order and chaos.
The interface to this whirling, exploding virtual machine is a wireless videogame controller, with two joysticks and numerous buttons. Every tap of the buttons or nudge of the joysticks can subtle or radical changes according to a hidden logic.
technical details:
SPINLOCK is a CAVE-based application, and can be run on a variety of hardware, from single-wall projection Linux systems to full CAVEs. It was written using the Ygdrasil scripting language, with custom code for 3D model loaders, Maya keyframe animations, physics modeling, joystick input, networked sound control.
The sound is algorithmically generated by a second computer, with communication between the two using Open Sound Control.