LateralUseOfComputerSoftwareTools

From UoWiki

Pickover (1990) suggests the use of software tools in areas other than those intended by their developers. The idea seems to be that looking at data produced in one domain, using tools developed for another domain may reveal unexpected patterns and relationships; a form of LateralThinking.

With digitisation so widespread there is plenty of scope for this kind of experimentation. An example of this would be to take data generated by a physical or biological process and pass it into software designed to aid music composition: "The low-frequency, seismic rumblings of volcanoes are being transformed into delicate musical scores in an effort to predict when they will erupt." (from a BBC News item).

A problem with the direct translation of process data to music is that the resulting tune may not exactly qualify as "easy listening". This is not helpful to a person has to listen for interesting sequences. The gene2music project has gone someway to address this in their attempt to express genome-encoded protein sequences as music.

Another example would be the use of a device such as The vOICe by an artist to create audio installations, or by an interior designer wanting to visualise a space differently.