Another installation of the someth;ng collective got me totally fascinated: midiBalls is based on Markus Quarta´s Interactive Surround Sound (ISS) cube , an interactive table that tracks luminous objects on its surface. midiBalls is a musical interface that you can touch, feel and play with. The aim is to keep a few “virtual balls” under control, which are flying around the screen, emitting various sounds as they bounce off each other and the physical elements on the table surface. Each ball’s parameters (volume, speed, etc.) and the sound it makes can be adjusted. Up to four people can play together with it.
What I found quite amazing is that the sound produced are actually quite pleasing (though I was more interested in catching the little spheres than in trying to make any kind of music), it’s quite easy to manipulate and the lights and colours of the table are so photogenic that I almost made decent pictures of it.