Ninefold explores the limits of human perception | Offenburg University of Applied Sciences

Three black screens stand in a red-and-gold Baroque hall

Ephraim Wegner (LME), Philippe Kocher, and Daniel Bisig (ICST) have combined art, mathematics, and technology to create *Ninefold*, a work that bridges the gap between mathematical abstraction and phenomenal reality. Their simulation of swarm behavior in a nine-dimensional space combines visual and acoustic elements and invites people to reflect on abstract concepts and unexpected behavior.

The human brain is trained to think in the three dimensions of length, width, and height. Higher dimensions—which arise from mathematical extensions and describe additional “directions” or parameters—elude immediate human perception. To change this, the three media artists simulated the collective movement—the swarm behavior—of so-called agents (such as virtual birds) in an abstract mathematical space defined by nine coordinate axes. The simulation was implemented in C++ and uses a custom-developed add-on for OpenFrameworks based on the ISO-flock library. The behavior of the swarms was then translated into sounds. In this process, the individual dimensions controlled, among other things, the sound parameters of pitch, volume, timbre, and rhythm. To help the audience better understand this, Ninefold displays a three-dimensional projection of three of the nine dimensions on each of three screens, while the generative sound of the simulation can be heard through headphones. Using three buttons, viewers can turn the individual dimensions on and off on each screen. This allows them to experience how the individual dimensions affect the visualization and sound. At the same time, viewers can actively interact with the work and feel as though they are part of the swarm in nine-dimensional space.

Wegner, Kocher, and Bisig presented Ninefold at the “14th Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X” in Turin, Italy, in early July, among other venues. At the Palazzo Madama there—the former residence of the rulers of Savoy and now the city’s Museum of Ancient Art—the setting of a magnificent Baroque hall combined with Ninefold’s modern technology created an additional point of tension for the audience.