Tapis Magique: A Choreomusical Interactive Carpet
Tapis Magique is a pressure-sensitive, knitted electronic textile carpet that generates three-dimensional sensor data based on body gestures and drives an immersive sonic environment in real-time. Inspired by the craftsmanship and connections of Javanese and Balinese Batik and Ikat textiles to their traditional performance arts, we set to merge new materials, sensing technologies, and digital fabrication with contemporary dance and music into one united and harmonious piece of object and performance. The project explores the relationship between sound and movement, and reveals the creative, unconventional possibilities of dancers to have their own agency and improvisation over the music and choreography.
The tapis design is composed of multi-layer knitted textiles. The top and bottom layers are orthogonal conductive line matrices knitted within a single operation using multi-material twisted yarns. The middle layer is a knitted piezo-resistive textile, a pressure-sensitive layer that interfaces with the conductive matrices to create a sensing grid. The dense geometrical patterns of the stars scattered around the brushstroke details in the tapis represent 1800 pressure-sensing pixels (distributed in 15 MIDI Channels) and are inspired by the galactic space. Parametric design transformed these patterns into a 3-D spatial illusion to illustrate the multi-dimensionality of the sensor data.
The furry textures from the synthetic mink yarns provide a soft tactility for physical feedback and give an intimate and comforting feel of the tapis. The thermoplastic fibers were then steamed to melt the multi-layer knitted textiles into one rigid surface, giving it structural reinforcements. In addition, the outer-facing textile glows in the dark from the luminous yarns, bringing out the starry effects for night performance.
The knitted conductive lines are connected to a system hardware consisting of multiplexers, shift-registers, operational amplifiers, and microcontroller that sequentially reads each pressure sensing pixel and sends it to a computer. These pixels collectively generate continuous 3-D spatiotemporal sensor data mapped into MIDI streams to trigger and control discrete notes, continuous effects, and immersive soundscapes through science-inspired musical tools.
In this project, we demonstrate the additive manufacturing process of machine knitting and electrically-conducting yarns for developing large-scale, interactive textile sensate surface. We seamlessly fuse sensing and computation into the tapis to bridge the immersive-digital with the tactile-physical world, giving enhanced functionalities to the aesthetic textiles we use and live with everyday.
Coverage KnittingIndustry | Domus 1062 | AxisMag
Publication Wicaksono, I., Haddad, D.D., and Paradiso, J.A., 2022. Tapis Magique: Machine-knitted Electronic Textile Carpet for Interactive Choreomusical Performance and Immersive Environments. ACM Creativity and Cognition.
SXSW Innovation Awards 2022, Finalist: Audio/Music Innovation, Winner: Student Innovation Categories.
MIDI Innovation Award 2022, Winner: Installation Category
Dezeen Design Award 2022, Longlist: Installation Category
Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts, 2022.
Lumen Prize 2023, Shortlist: Global Majority Award
