Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality is a series of VR artworks that explore the personal data of several individuals, including lead artist Marilene Oliver. The piece is designed to allow the user to look, listen to, explore, and manipulate the variety of datasets therein, including MRI scans, PET scans, and social media data. In our talk, we will discuss the scoring and sound design of these environments, including various forms of sonic interaction, including audio puzzles and data sonification.

Catherine Bevan holds an MMus in Composition from the University of Alberta, where she defended her thesis on the usage of text and controlled improvisation as means of musical development. She is currently in the final stages of an MA in Digital Humanities Specializing in Music, where her research focuses on Virtual Reality, spatial audio, glitch, queer experience in the post-internet age, and the validity of disembodied and ‘unsocial’ musical experiences made possible with modern technology. In addition to her thesis research, Catherine is involved with leading technical audio implementation for the Audio Games Lab @ University of Alberta, leads the prototyping of sonification software which interprets sentiment analysis data for the online text analysis tool Voyant, and participates in as many game jams as she can.

Scott Smallwood is a sound artist, composer, and performer who creates works inspired by discovered textures and forms, through a practice of listening, field recording, and improvisation. In addition to composing works for ensembles and electronics, he designs experimental instruments and software, as well as sound installations and audio games, often for site-specific scenarios. Much of his recent work is often concerned with the soundscapes of climate change, and the dichotomy between ecstatic and luxuriating states of noise and the precious commodity of natural acoustical environments and quiet spaces. He performs as one-half of the laptop/electronic duo Evidence (with Stephan Moore) and teaches as a professor of composition at the University of Alberta, where he also serves as the director of the Sound Studies Institute, and the director of the Audio Games Lab.

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