Main projects I've created, designed or collaborated with
The suits were created for the event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the multinational company Fluidra (produced by Franc Aleu). The hardware was designed by Carlos Jovellar and the radio frequency control and light animation management was developed by me. The suits are prepared to dive more than 2 meters and they can receive light program changes about 20 cm deep inside the water. The control is done by radio frequency (RF), which allows a very high control distance even with large amount of mobiles and Wi-Fi devices around. The LED animations are stored on an SD card on the suit, which has an autonomy of about two hours.
Light installation where I developed an interactive system that allowed LED bars to react in real time with the flow of people. This interaction was defined not only by the place where a person was but also by the proximity to the light system. Since the input was bi-dimensional, the range of interactions and light possibilities was much richer. I captured the movement of the audience through computer vision, using depth sensors to determine the position of people in space. The base animations of the LEDs were also programmed, having several types of animation (transitions, gradients, etc.). This installation was produced by Lush Japan.
Interactive floor in which the audience was monitored and visuals were generated in real time using the position information of the people assisting to the event. The tracking was done through a complex multi-camera system that I programmed which allowed to give each person a unique identifier. I also programmed five different visuals using GLSL and java based on fluids and particles. Each visual lasted approximately 2 minutes and after that, a transition would happen to the next one in a cyclic way, since it was a semi-permanent installation. This installation was produced by Desigual, within the Sonar 2019 festival.
Large format show by La Fura dels Baus based on Thamos, King in Egypt K345, created by a 17 years old teenager W.A. Mozart. The show includes other Mozart works and also algorithmic music pieces, composed by a computer program that I created for this particular work. T-H-A-M-O-S is inspired by the drama represented by the new mutations of power in the XXI century and the attempt to overcome the new forms of slavery. It was premiered in Salzburg for the Mozartwoche in january 2019.
Matrix Builder is a tool to generate visuals by using a matrix of images. It is very versatile since the animation is created through black and white videos. The white color represents an action on the image. An action could be the appearance of an image, but also it's fade out, the use of a filter or a visual effect. There is also an interface to control the margins, padding, crossfades of the tiles and a random creation mode. The animations can be recorded and exported as frames.
The Water Shader Tool is a computer program to generate visuals from static images. Written in Processing and GLSL, it allows to deform a background image in many ways. Many parameters are available to modify in real time the picture to achieve very different effects (like water, crystallization, cells). The animation sequences can be recorded in real time through the exportation of every frame.
Interactive mapping onto a car created for the Mercè festival (Barcelona, 2017). The installation is controlled by an android app installed on a tablet. The game is pretty simple: the user has to align three different parts of a car (front, cabin and rear) that are designed with different textures. What the user sees on the tablet is projected in real time onto the car. When all the car parts have the same texture, the player wins and one video related to the chosen texture is projected.
Mechanical opera for automated marionettes by the creator Roland Olbeter. All the scenography is portable, contained inside a wagon, and all the items of the show (video, lights, marionettes, sound and special effects) are fully automated and controlled by a main computer. The movement of the puppets is possible through more than 80 servomotors and 200 pistons and the music is prerecorded and performed by robotic instruments. This project has been made possible thanks to the collaboration with our technological partner Festo.
Multimedia installation with industrial aesthetics, integrated by 5 robotic arms and one laser. AI_Vectors plays with the AI of the robots trying to find a ray of light. The connection between the beam of light and the movements of the robotic arms creates geometric light patterns that overwhelm the space. It produces an incredible interaction of reflections that intensifies the audience perception. This installation was presented in the Digital Arts Festival MIRA 2016 with the collaboration of Stäubli.
Co-production between Lucerne Opera and Cologne Opera House by La Fura dels Baus and directed by Carlus Padrissa. Das Lied der Frauen von Fluss is a non-conformist and brilliant show that mixes opera, cabaret and poetry. It evokes the call of the mermaid in a totally unreal world dominated by the legend of Faust. The piece has an outstanding technological setup: several arias are conducted by a robotic conductor arm and one part of the orchestra is composed by a robotic ensemble of automatic instruments.
Surfx is a new technology that I have developed for Boolab that is able to turn any surface into a touchscreen. The setup is very portable: it only uses one video pico-projector, a small computer and an infrared camera that are encapsulated in a small container. Surfx is ideal to present a new product using multimedia contents with which the customer can interact by touching or dragging them. This technology allows auto-calibration and it is also able to track the hand with such accuracy that it is possible to write on a virtual keyboard.
Machination is an improvisational piece of music programmed for robots and musician. It proposes a possible view of the stages of artistic creation and it is personified by some machines that become more human. The relationship human performer - robot leads this transformation, which evolves in different types of interaction. In Machination, several musical approaches to mathematical algorithms for music composition are explored. As a consequence, the music is generated in real time. This project is the result of the Phonos foundation artistic production grant that I won in 2015.
Gastronomic space located under the great Teatro del Liceu, in the heart of the city of Barcelona. A multidisciplinary and playful experience conceived by the visual artist Franc Aleu with the collaboration of the Hermanos Roca. Four interactive spaces shape the essence of Opera Samfaina. They are unique both for the visual impact and for the culinary opportunity that each one represents. In every space, there are many micro-installations that can be activated by using special coins, as if they were automaton.
Kinograph is an open source film scanner/telecine for digitising all gauges of film. The main goal of the project is to reduce the price of the process of digitalisation by using 3d printer components and affordable hardware like arduino. The film reel is dragged at a constant speed in front of an illuminated screen and the photographic sensor captures the movie frames, normally in pairs.
Multidisciplinary work with video an electronics performed by a dancer, a saxophonist, a clarinetist and a percussionist. Leviatán is conceived as an immersive sensorial experience where the audience descends into the abyss to encounter the metaphysic violence that keeps the human being trapped between the monster and the divinity. Produced by ÓperaDHoy for its series Sinergias 2015, Leviatán is the result of the creative collaboration between the composer Oliver Rappoport and the director Rubén Vejabalbán.
Produced with my friend and great pianist Juan J. Ochoa, this show brings together classical and modern composers from the four corners of the Mediterranean Sea. Departing from the traditional concert format, we explore new ways of playing the piano beyond the keyboard and develop an evocative mise-en-scène through the use of light and sound. The resulting performance is a captivating celebration of Mediterranean culture, transporting the audience from the nostalgic and passionate melodies of Lebanon or Italy all the way to the avant-garde or comical tunes of France or Spain.
Pollywogs is a sound and interactive installation created by Roland Olbeter made up by five instrumentalist robots that are able to play classical music. The installation is also able to develop algorithmic music and perform musical pieces already composed through a MIDI sequencer. The accuracy of the mechanical components and the electronic control allows them to play musical scales not only using tones and half tones but also quarter tones and octave tones. This installation was premiered at the Barcelona Sonar Festival.
