La Dispersion du Fils

Project Details

Installation

La Dispersion du Fils is designed specifically for projection in the iCinema (AVIE) 360° immersive theatre.

Viewers, wearing 3D glasses, are immersed in a high-definition panoramic 3D image. An array of 12 speakers, plus two sub-woofers, provides an equally hi-fidelity and highly spatialised sonic experience.

La Dispersion du Fils is designed to unfold without interruption for hours or days at a time. There is no beginning, nor end. Visitors are welcomed to sit or stand, or wander in or out.

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LDDF installation model

Implementation

La Dispersion du Fils is an infinite cinematic journey through a virtual landscape constructed entirely from film and sound material. It is completely non-deterministic; nothing is pre-ordained. No moment is ever the same twice.

La Dispersion du Fils is a real-time generative system. All the images and sounds are rendered in real-time, at 60 frames per second. The system is autonomous and unpredictable. Hundreds of primary parameters control the evolution of the system, which in turn themselves are changed overtime. Given the high dimensionality of the state-space, the addition of iterative semi-chaotic algorithms and the injection of some pseudo-random noise, it’s reasonable to conclude that no single moment in LDDF is ever repeated twice.

The software is distributed across a synchronised cluster of seven computers. It is written in C++, using a highly augmented version of the Virtools SDK. A custom video playback engine is used to provide required video bandwidth, and a version FMODEx, modified to drive a 12.2 channel sound system, is used to produce the sound. The images are rendered in omnistereo, providing a true 3D image for every viewer, no matter which direction they are facing.

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LDDF installation view

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LDDF installation view