Thales

Presented at NIME Conference,
Mexico City (MEX)
2022-2023

Thales is a composed instrument developed at the Intelligent Instruments Lab, and based on two controllers that interact with each other through permanent magnets. 

When the performer attempts to join the controllers, these repel each other allowing him to play with the tangible manifestation of their oppðosing magnetic fields, similarly to a drum skin. Each controller contains a riser, held in position by the player's palm. When a magnetic field is encountered the riser activates and pushes on the performer's hand.

Thales uses RAVE, a Neural Synthesis model for real time interaction. The model is trained on the sounds of magnets, hence the "composed" nature of this instrument.

Thales will take part in the final round of the Guthman competition, at Georgia Tech, Atlanta (USA), in March 2024!