The Slovenian Musicological Society presents a series of lectures, presentations, and practical demonstrations dedicated to technologically enhanced auditory perception.
On 23 October, the programme opens with a lecture by Lea Sande exploring the history of technologies that enhance perception, followed by a presentation and practical demonstration of an immersive VR concert experience.
16:00 – Lea Sande: Sense and Signal: A Brief History of Augmented Perception Technologies
17:00 – Timothy Summers: At the Heart of the Orchestra | An Immersive Concert Experience
4:00 PM, Sense and Signal: A Short History of Extended Perception Technologies
Lecture by Lea Sande
Technology is increasingly structuring our everyday lives and, above all, fundamentally transforming our relationship to human senses; from sight and hearing to general perception and interaction with the world. The lecture Sense and Signal: A Short History of Extended Perception Technologies stems from the premise that technology acts as a series of transfers of knowledge and functions outward from the human body – a process of technological exteriorization in which the fist is replaced by the hammer, the ear by the microphone, and memory by writing. It will trace the history of concepts that view technology as a way of expanding and reconfiguring the senses, from the earliest tools and media artifacts to contemporary interfaces.
The lecture will be followed by a presentation of the reflekt. immersive concert experience.
Lea Sande is a researcher, journalist, and editor. At Radio Študent, she produces the monthly show Povratne zanke (Feedback Loops), where she addresses internet theory, culture, and literature. Together with Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, she co-edits the multithread book series and works as a student researcher on the Black Hole Photography research project. She works in the field of sociology of technology, focusing on the role of computation in contemporary capitalism, the development of artificial intelligence, and the cultural derivatives of emergent technologies.
The lecture will be conducted in Slovene.
Music Perceptions is a series of educational content by the Slovenian Musicological Society.
Music Perceptions is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
5:00 PM / Inside the Orchestra: An Immersive Concert Experience
Traditional concerts rely on a clear boundary between stage and audience, where everyone experiences the sound from roughly the same vantage point. But what if you could step inside the music? Leveraging spatial audio capture and augmented/virtual reality (VR/AR), this project lets you walk directly onto the stage, wander among the musicians, and experience classical masterworks from an intimate, unprecedented perspective.
Part of the reflekt. initiative, advanced 6DOF (Six Degrees of Freedom) spatial audio transforms passive listeners into active musical explorers. Putting on a VR headset transports you right into the ensemble, allowing you to relive the performance through the ears of individual musicians. Move closer to the woodwinds, isolate the string section, or take the concertmaster’s seat; the audio dynamic responds in real time to your movement through space, unlocking entirely new ways to interact with musical compositions.
The session opens with an introduction by project co-creator Timothy Summers, a violinist with the renowned Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He will discuss the project’s inspiration, technical development, and spatial recording methods, as well as the potential this technology holds for audiences, promoters, musicians, audio engineers, educators, and musicologists alike.
Following the presentation, attendees are invited to put on VR headsets and freely navigate the virtual space among musicians from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and reflektmusic. Interactive testing stations featuring various musical works will be open for hands-on exploration.
This showcase builds upon a companion theoretical lecture led by Timothy Summers earlier in the day.
Timothy Summers is a violinist and board member with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, as well as artistic co-director of the Future Presence VR project. He teaches violin at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and develops digital tools for music analysis and learning, focusing on AR/VR technologies and spatial audio interaction. He holds degrees from Harvard University and The Juilliard School.
The demonstration will be conducted in English.
Perceptions of Music (Zaznave glasbe) is an educational series organized by the Slovenian Musicological Society and co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
Organized by the Slovenian Musicological Society in collaboration with Kino Šiška.
