BrainWaves is a project of complex systems' data representation, like the human brain, developed at the Georgia Tech University by the students of neural engineering (prof. Steve Potter). The experiment is based upon the application of some pattern recognition techniques (through these techniques data - or patterns - are classified basing on a previous knowledge, or basing on statistical data retrieved from the patterns themselves), and it's inspired by our brain ability of perceiving and distinguish different audio samples. The neural activity (in a neuron's cultivation) subjected to sound stimulations is recorded through a series of electrodes and then played through eight speakers. The endeavor is of give a spatial propagation representation of the electric pulses into the cultivation. Moreover eight controllers allows an interaction with the neurons, simulating the pulse propagation starting from different cultivation points. The experiment is presented as an interactive music performance, and the aim of BrainWaves is not onlu to understand neurons' activities but also to construct a musical 'product' with its own aesthetic significance.
Vito Campanelli