Concept:

KarmaBounce is an audio/visual installation piece, based on the game of life, the concept of finding patterns in random sequences, the finding of peace in chaos.
The installation piece detects a clap, and drops balls on screen, that then start bouncing off the edges, triggering various sounds.

Setup:

The application is designed using the languages ChucK for DSP and Java(Processing) for the visualisation. The app detects a clap using FFT analysis on the incoming audio through my computer's onboard microphone. The velocity of the clap then triggers ball that are spawned in the middle of the screen, and start bouncing off the edges. The bounces send an impulse to various synthesiser, triggering arpeggiator patterns.

Experience:

The sounds are designed in such a way that together, they make up a nice big chord. As you spawn more and more balls, it becomes a meditative experience to watch them bounce around and around, as the sound becomes bigger and bigger. As you begin to watch it for even longer, the random movement of the balls starts to become as if though it was specifically designed to move this way. This I suppose, is due to the sense of resolution your mind experiences as the chord gets completed and the sense of tension when there aren't enough balls triggering the full chord. Clapping gives you a feeling of interaction amid the apparent chaos.