LASER VIDEO HARP - Video Instrument / Interactive Sculpture

Interactive sculpture using light as the medium of human-computer interaction, presenting digital audio and video. Development was sponsored by RMIT UNION ARTS. Visual Content is all pre-programmable by the user with VS . Being made of wood, plastic, light and sound, the 'Laser Video Harp' is a true manifetation of the word 'multimedia'. While playing the harp, the user (performer) does not touch any kind of physical matter at all, the hand only passes through light. This means that when it is used as an instrument the performer must stay visually aware of his movement as s/he has no feedback from his/her sence of touch. The 'Laser Video Harp' is a video instrument. It was created to give a more physical interface to systems that play and effect video in real-time. It could be said that the type of interaction the Laser Video Harp displays is totally non physical as the interaction occures not with physical matter but light. Although there is definatly a more physical difference in the bodies movement when compared with the actions of using the standard keybaord and mouse. Using custom circuitry and custom software the harp can be programmed to trigger any midi device and visual sequence.