NODEM 2014 Proceedings

The Whisperers: An Interactive Exhibition. Using Voice as Navigation for an Experiential Interface in a Museum Environment
expose these inner compartments. These exterior reveals will also allow two users to view and experience the
exhibit: if one user whispers into a window on the left edifice of the dwelling or building and another on an opposite
side, it will display information and trigger an experience on another unit. That is, one family’s whisper
or talk to another family or individual – about another family – are interrelated.
Figure 4. Gallery Area showing scope
User Scenario
The ideal environment for the experience of the project is a silent room without noise as much as possible. As
the user approaches the scale model, there is moderate instruction in the exhibition room on how to experience
the model/project (“whisper into any reveal”). The act of whispering seeks to be a vehicle for narrative:
if the user chooses to speak/whisper, a digitally generated echoed representation of their voice is heard: an
amplifier and microphone placed near window(s) and vent(s) obtains the audio of the speech and is processed
by the software of MAX/MSP. Speech in whispers echo on a digital array suggesting a larger volumetric space
inside the structure not readily seen. The whisper then triggers a compartment on another area of the building
– this could be an inner compartment directly in the line of the user’s vision (deeper inside the scale model or
on another floor of the building). Some outputs from the user are unclear. They can be heard or seen on different
areas of the architecture – but may not be in the immediate perspective of the user. At the same time,
another user could whisper into another window and enact a third compartment (two families, groups, or
people whispering about another family group or person).
NODEM 2014 Conference & Expo
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