Mocean
is an interactive installation that uses a tank of water as an
interface for sound. Dip your hands in the tank, and the installation
whistles and hums. The water doesn't create the sound directly;
instead, an array of antique organ pipes resonate above the tank,
triggered by a video camera that analyzes pictures of the water.
(Complex but interesting solution!) Mocean was created by Maia
Marinelli, Jared Lamenzo, and Liubo Borissov (in NYU's Interactive
Telecommunications Program or ITP); I found out about it as I'm in a residency now with Liubo at Dance Theater Workshop here in New York.
I hope others try water-based experiments, too; I saw something
similar at a 42nd-street space called The Tank. Watching the video,
while the sound is eerie and lovely, I think I'm more taken by how
expressive the water itself is. Other sensor solutions might make other
liquid interfaces create new musical sounds.