B.O.O.L.E.A.N.

Balloon Orchestra Of Little Excitable Anthropomorphic Nymphs
(aka Harmonicamera 3.0 aka 'Loonmen aka Inflatotron)

Andy Doro, Tim Stutts, SoYoung Park

 

_download_

web camera version

BOOLEAN 0.9 beta - standalone version

for Windows - 463 kb
for Mac OSX - 485 kb

 

source code only

BOOLEAN 0.9 beta - 235 kb

requirements:

 

non-webcam version

We have also created a version which does not require a webcamera,
and which can run in the web browser.

BOOLEAN no-cam 0.2 beta - launch web browser version

 

source code only

BOOLEAN no-cam 0.2 beta - 235 kb

requirements:

 

_screenshot_

 

_what is it ? / how does it work ?_

BOOLEAN is a program which uses a webcamera to generate music. It was written in Processing using the Ess library.

The webcamera image is filtered, creating a black and white image. The image is divided into 12 rows and 16 columns, creating 192 boxes. A balloon floats over each box. The balloons rate of inflation depends on the amount of dark pixels in its box. When the balloon reaches a maximum size it pops, triggering a percussive sample. A new balloon of a different color takes the place of the popped balloon.

Each row is associated with a different note. BOOLEAN scans through each column from left to right. The size of each balloon determines the amplitude of the note being played. Different colored balloons produce different sounds; teal balloons produce no sound, pink balloons produce a triangle wave, and orange balloons produce a square wave.

Like the Theremin, BOOLEAN is a musical instrument which does not need to be touched in order to be played.

 

_sample video_

BOOLEANsmall.mov - 6.30 mb

 

_contact us_

boolean@sheepish.org

How was your experience with BOOLEAN? Any suggestions? We greatly appreciate your feedback.