FuXi is a New Interface for Music Expression (NIME) and live-visuals generator based on the behaviour of a fish. The system (Fig. 1) is comprised of 1) an aquarium with a fish; 2) a computer vision module including a USB Camera, 3) a visual display of the fish’s image overlaid by graphical elements produced by the performer, 4) a sound generator module and 5) a set of hardware devices for controlling the system. The music and visual expression are a combination of the fish movements and decisions taken by the performer in real time, together contributing to the audiovisual piece being delivered to the audience. The system is mostly a reactive system, with logical components responsible for the sonification process, while the performer responds to the fish behaviour by triggering and tweaking semi-autonomous processes. Therefore, the fish has a decisive impact on the development of the piece, being crucial that optimal environmental conditions (water temperature, feeding, cleanness) are observed during the performance. The musical aesthetics tends to soundscape composition, noise, electroacoustic and improvised music.
The FuXi system was used in 3 performances:
Published papers
Cordeiro, J. (2015). FuXi: A Fish-Driven Instrument for Real-Time Music Performance. In C. Johnson, A. Carballal, & J. Correia (Eds.), Evolutionary and Biologically Inspired Music, Sound, Art and Design SE - 4 (Vol. 9027, pp. 39–49). Springer International Publishing. Accessible at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-16498-4_4
Cordeiro, J. (2014). FuXi: a fish-driven instrument for real-time music performance (performance description). In Proceeding INTER-FACE: 2nd International Conference on Live Interfaces 2014. Lisbon, Portugal. Accessible at http://users.fba.up.pt/~mc/ICLI/cordeiro.pdf
Fig. 1 - Technical setup (2nd performance)
Fig. 2 - Technical setup (first performance - over Skype)