networked.art: An Image, Listened To

Give the sphere an image, and the work listens to it the way an eye would: a model of attention finds where the gaze is drawn, rests there, and moves on. Everything it crosses becomes sound. Height becomes pitch, light becomes loudness, and colour chooses one of eight digital synthesis families and the tuning of the piece. Edges, textures, lines, depth and symmetry shape its rhythm, melody and space, and darkness becomes silence. The result is a piece of music between one and four minutes long, and a film of the image being heard.

Nothing is added from outside the picture, and nothing leaves your device. The work is deterministic: the same image always becomes the same piece, on any device, now or years from now. A single self contained HTML file with no external dependencies.

How to use: tap the sphere and choose an image. When the ring closes, the sphere divides. Tap the left icon to play the sound, and the right one to watch the film. The centre dot starts again; the top dot switches between light and dark.