Explorator Spinner - March Tests, Unedited Footage #0 - Struggling to Vocalise
Explorator Spinner - March Tests, Unedited Footage #0 - Struggling to Vocalise
Documentation footage of the Explorator spinner species of soundscape augmentation artifacts. This footage was collected in March of 2021 during a series of test installations in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The purpose of these tests was to improve the artifact's vocalization capabilities via firmware modifications to the way the vocalization mechanism is controlled as well as how the creature “listens” and reacts to the in-situ sonic environment.
This specific unedited footage was collected for documentation purposes to help improve firmware performance for later installations. The focus of this testing was to determine the quality of the artifact’s intermittent vocalizations. As seen in the footage, initially the artifact did not perform well. However, as is shown in later videos, the quality of artifact vocalizations improved over the month’s testing. The problem with the firmware on this day was that the motor controller was rapped too slowly at the start of vocalizations which did not allow the mechanism to overcome its inherent friction. While this behavior was not intended, this has been stored as a possible vocalization option when typical sounds are not as well suited to the installation’s artistic objective.
This artifact is a part of a larger research project consisting of several purpose-built “Acropolis family” soundscape augmentation artifacts created to facilitate hyper-soundwalks through outdoor natural environments.
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