David R. Glowacki, PhD, MA Danceroom Spectroscopy Collectively generating music from movement

This stuff is topical Recent Cover of Physics World The Physics of Crowds

This talk A little bit about me and my background A brief introduction to the science The physics that generated the ideas for the project… What’s a Fourier Transform (FT)? The danceroom Spectroscopy idea The wider cultural context Horizons, Applications, and Experiments Where we’re at right now

So what do I do? I’m a research scientist at Bristol University Presently working on the frontier where chemistry meets theoretical physics I use the mathematical tools of quantum & classical mechanics to understand what molecules do We know how to exactly solve the QM equations of motion, but it’s impossible to do Most of my research involves massively parallel computers A lot of what I do concerns how to make more accurate approximations to solving the full QM equations

My background During my PhD, I did experiments: Get computers to talk to instruments Laser spectroscopy Optics Instrument Design

Before my PhD… Before my PhD, I did my MA in religion and Cultural Theory at the University of Manchester: Koine Greek Democracy and Power Transparency Surveillance and the Panopticon Things I still think about: Different epistemology between the social sciences and the natural sciences Is it possible to unify the vocabulary in each field? D. R. Glowacki, “All things to all people: unraveling the structure of the apostolic Panopticon,” Journal of Cultural and Religious Theory, accepted D. R. Glowacki, “To the Reader: the structure of power in biblical translation, from Tyndale to the NRSV,” Journal of Literature and Theology, 2008, 22(2), p 210

Quantum Mechanics is about waves QM is the study of wave mechanics In classical physics, we can think of things as point particles; in QM, things behave as waves These effects become important as one approaches the nano-scale very very tiny… e-e-

Zero Point Energy keeps things vibrating Classically, motion can stop at absolute zero Quantum mechanically, zero point energy keeps everything vibrating all the time with a characteristic frequency ZPE is intimately tied to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle You cant get cooler than Quantum Mechanics vs. The classical The quantum

Non-locality: everything is coupled Classical paths can be isolated Quantum non-locality means that each path is coupled to every other path State A State B

The Fourier Transform & wave analysis The FT has revolutionized science in the last 50 years Allows determination of individual waves that make up a chaotic signal Used extensively for wave analysis Laser Physics Electronic engineering Quantum mechanics Musical technology Digital Signal Processing

The Danceroom Spectroscopy Idea Arose from: Conversations with electronica artist Lee J Malcom Thinking about what happens in a typical laser excitation experiment FT Wave analysis in QM Would it be possible to do the same with movement?

Danceroom Spectroscopy Idea FT

Feedback to Crowd How might we accomplish it? FFT Music Software 3d time-of-flight imaging

Imagining applications and experiments Effectively, we would be crowd sourcing a “vibe” for the artist The crowd would be another input channel Do pump-probe experiments Watch excitation in one area feed through into other areas Feed the “vibe” from last night to the group from tonight Couple it to visuals for an even more immersive feedback experience All sorts of interesting development opportunities Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Introduce randomness Combine with directional speakers

Cultural Context Danceroom Spectroscopy is a celebration and recognition of surveillance Music is increasingly atomized, but this project relies on the coupled, collective motion of an ensemble of individuals, reversing the Panoptic principle Coherence, order, (synchronization?) arise from apparent collective chaos Allows us to quantitatively ‘map’ interpersonal coupling I believe we need, if anything, more CCTV cameras and more people on the DNA database, rather than fewer Phillip Davies, Tory MP, 6 July 2010 Westminster Hall Debates

Where the project stands now Proposal has been submitted to the EPSRC A number of interested collaborators Pervasive Media Studio Qu Junktions Arnolfini UoB Centre for Public Engagement Lee J Malcom We should know something in September Ideas, Feedback, Collaboration, help with generating frequencies?

Acknowledgements Philippa Bayley (UoB Centre for Public Engagement) Tijl de Bie (UoB, Engineering Mathematics) Dave Cliff (UoB, Computer Science) Mike Ashfold (UoB, Laser Group) Laser Group Members Inition Ltd. (London, 3d imaging specialists) Clare Reddington (PVM) Y’all