Steady State: EEG sensors as the focus of an interdisciplinary multimedia performance

This presentation discusses the development, creation, performance and performance of a multimedia performance work, Steady State.

Steady State (2024) was created by performer, technologist and Research Lead Zubin Kanga (Royal Holloway, University of London), composer Alexander Schubert (Musikhochschule Hamburg), Brain-Computer Interaction engineer Serafeim Perdikis (University of Essex), and a team of other artists, in partnership with ANT Neuro. The work recasts the recital as a retro-sci-fi laboratory in which the performer is both subject and instrument. Wearing an ANT Neuro EEG cap, hand-controlled motion sensors and multiple muscle sensors, Kanga streams brain-wave rhythms, finger articulations and torso motions into a custom Max/TouchDesigner system that simultaneously moulds and morphs the immersive electronics sounds, and sculpts dreamlike holographic projections. Using Steady State Visually Evoked Potential signals, Kanga is able to control the audio-visual patterns through the choice of which strobing object on the holographic screen that he focuses on, facilitating the use of brain sensors to consciously control sound and visuals on stage. Alongside this, finger movements use the motion sensors to create a virtual piano, while the EMG sensors shape the bass electronics. At the climax, the brain data and the audio-visual system enter a feedback loop, accelerating to the work’s hallucinatory and transcendental conclusion.

This presentation discusses the process of developing the software with Dr Perdikis, the development of the multimedia work with Alexander Schubert, and the experience of performing the work, which has now been performed by Zubin Kanga at the National Hall in Dublin, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Elbphilharmonie, as part of Hamburg International Music Festival. The work will also be placed in the context of Zubin Kanga’s wider music-technology research project Cyborg Soloists.