WHAT?

Specul8 is an interactive environment with a standard interface of a 1st-person video game. It was developed for my Master's thesis at the Institute of Sonology in the Hague. (download thesis)

Specul8 gathers information about specular highlights from the graphical rendering process and uses it to control procedural sound synthesis algorithms.

You can see some video reels of it in the bottom of this page.

WHY?

First of all - because it's just fun to play with. Simply by exploring visual shapes the user can manipulate very complex generative soundscapes.

Second - it may be a very useful tool for the research on human cross-modal perception. It is possible to create specul8 objects which provide a very strong synesthetic experience, i.e. "it looks the way it sounds". By doing so, and investigating the mapping strategies involved it is possible to gain certain insight into the mechanisms which our brain uses to link visual and audible information.

Third - to showcase some of the possibilities of procedural sound design for video games.

HOW?

Specul8 was developed by Vladimir Goncharov and Konstantin Leonenko using OGRE graphics engine and SuperCollider sound synthesis language.

The project is licensed under GNU GPL and the source code will soon be publicly available.

CONTACT info

Konstantin Leonenko: konstantin(dot)leo(at)gmail(dot)com

Vladimir Goncharov: goncharov(dot)vv(at)gmail(dot)com

VIDEO EXAMPLES

FM CRYSTAL

In this scene the sound is generated by feeding high-indexed PM tones through a set of bandpass filters.

PERCUSSION CRYSTAL

The same filters are used as from the object above, however they are driven by bursts of pink noise.

EAR

Very finely tuned bandpass filters are driven by continuous white noise.

ACID SCOOTER

This scene represents an interactive mash-up of an acid track. Body and wheels of the scooter drive granular synthesizers with a 303 sample and a drum loop in them respectively. Engine and the front fork generate frequency-modulated pulse waves, while mirrors and the steering bar produce pure FM tones.