ZodiacHack

Inspiration

Main inspiration came from Concordia and Professor Kelly Snook's amazing talk about the universe, space and the mysterious, historical relations between science, mathematics and music. Driven by this, we created Zodiac Hack, fusing the mystical constellations that once guided our ancestors with the musical principles of the circle of fifths.

What it does

It consists of a game where a user navigates through a circle shaped environment, with 12 sonically distinct sections, where it is possible to experience evolving soundscapes. Each of the 12 sections is related with both a zodiac star constellation sign and a tonal centre, following the sequence of the circle of fifths. It provides a unique Audio/Video experience and the user can transverse the world and immersively appreciate the surroundings.

How we built it

Created the virtual world within Unity and separately work on the sound design of the game.

Challenges we ran into

The first idea revolved around creating a 3D Aural modelling representation of Abbey Road's Studio 2, with the purpose of giving blind musicians a more immersive experience. Due to technical and time constraints, that idea faded out until the talk done by Professor Kelly Snook, from which the actual project emerged.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The beautiful virtual world created in Unity, the concept we came up with and the soundwalk it produces.

What we learned

Technically, a deeper understanding of Unity. Non-technically, star and zodiac related trivia. Sound design experience.

What's next for ZodiacHack

Create a skybox/sky with procedurally drawn constellations. Control the player with Leap Motion. Make it a fully immersive VR experience.

Built With

• ableton
• unity