Projects
Exploring MR and the impact on perception and imagination in immersive media
Exploring MR and the impact on perception and imagination in immersive media
I aim to develop skills in mixing 360-Audio for Mixed-Reality (MR) in pass-through headsets to create site-specific interactive installations that build on my audiovisual work.
With this fund I aim to learn about immersive technologies that could help me explore this phenomenon better and create new immersive worlds which play with human perception and our imagination.
For example, my installation 'Roots' (originally presented as a Bluetooth speaker installation), explores how plants communicate with each other and imagines what that might sound like.
I created 'Roots' in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens for the Glasgow Science Festival in 2022. The installation is inspired by the communication of plants through electrical signals and energy. The sounds create a dystopian soundscape that jerks the imagination and mimics the sound of plants communicating. This piece consisted of several Bluetooth speakers hidden in the plants. This allowed the audience to explore the garden from different angles, hunting for sound sources and looking around after hearing synthetic birdsong bouncing off the greenhouse's glass roof.
With Explore, I want to deepen this exploration of our perception of space further by learning how to use mixed-reality and pass-through headsets to create an interactive immersive installation that is accessible to local Glasgow communities and families.
Explore
£5,000
Aims of the Project
This grant will enable me to develop prototypes using tools like Meta Quest 3 headsets and ambisonic microphones, focusing on mapping spatial audio to dynamic environments where sound reacts to user interactions in real-time.
I will use the concept of Roots as a foundation to experiment with pass-through technology, merging real and digital elements, and opening the path to site-specific MR experiences that could shift our perception of the world.
Works such as Ben Joseph Andrews’ Jamais Vu illustrate how immersive art can enhance empathy and broaden our perspectives by merging the familiar with the unfamiliar. My aim is to come out of this find with new skills that will take my practice to the next level and hope to develop this project into a full-scale work eventually.
Meet the artist
Sonia Killman
Lead artist
they/she
Sonia Killmann is a composer, saxophonist and multimedia artist who explores the relationship between sound and environment through immersive composition.
Sonia’s work is inspired by the juxtaposition of mechanical elements and natural phenomena that influence human perception of space.
The artist presented the installation Umweltraum((a)) at Sonica 2024 with immersive artist Laura Mannelli and performed at festivals such as Multiplica (LUX), Gas festival (SE) and Construction Festival (UA).
