Dr Tychonas Michailidis PhD, MA, BA, AFHEA

Michailidis, T. 2018. Live Mechanics for Piano and Live Electronics. Performed at the Sound Music Computing conference 2018, Limassol, Cyprus.

Anyan, J., Michailidis, T. and Bonenfant, Y. 2018. Fashioning Voice prototype trench coat. Presented and demoed at Fashion, Costume and Visual Cultures conference at the University of Zagreb in Croatia (17-19 July 2018).

Fashioning the Voice (2018-2019)
The voice emerges from our vibrating vocal folds, and then our exquisitely responsive and malleable vocal tract sculpts the sounds that emerge. This process is dependent on a wide range of variables – biological, emotional, cultural and contextual – and as such, it is ever-in-flux, under a strange combination of conscious control, unconscious learned habits, and physical limitations and potentials: we fashion our sound. Our research examines body/identity/performance relationships through a prototype garment: a trench coat with monitoring sensors used to harness and tease out the synergy between material clothing and internal body, potentially dissolving the boundaries of sensations in fashioning body and voice.

AudioHaptics (2018-2019)
The research aims to explore some fundamental connections between audio and haptics and how users interact and respond to different stimuli. We propose the use of a new haptic system, from the company Ultrahpaptics, that utilises ultrasonic technology to provide the haptic experience to the user. Thus, users can sense haptic feedback in mid-air. The technology controls ultrasound waves to project tactile sensations onto your hand, without the need to wear haptic gloves or use hand-held game controllers.

IMAGINE (2016 -2018)
A collaboration between Warsash Maritime Academy and Rolls Royce that aims to understand how marine engineers use their broader senses to understand onboard engine room failures and how this tacit information may be communicated effectively to a remote location. Tychonas’s role examines how we receive information from the engine room and how we can translate that information in a meaningful and coherent way at the remote location. The project includes the use of binaural 3D audio, audio isolation of machinery, VR technology and data sonification and haptic interaction to deliver an immersive environment at a remote location.

https://www.solent.ac.uk/research/current-projects.

VARM (Vibrotactile Armband) (2016-2017)
The project examines how non-verbal interaction can be achieved through vibrotactile feedback between two performers. Specifically, a prototyping vibrotactile feedback system has been developed to identify the mechanisms required to establish a communication language through vibration. How do we understand the feedback and information received in the form of vibrations? Currently, the project examines the relationships between vibration and movement/gesture in dance performances. Future developments include music performances and art installations.

https://www.facebook.com/solentuniversity/videos/10155115088340477/

Fuga Perpetua 2016 – ongoing
An icon-sonic opera by the composer Yuval Avital. This work has been partially funded by the AHRC Cultural Engagement Fund. The world premiere took place in Teatro Comunale “L. Pavarotti” Modena, Italy 12 March 2016 followed by UK premiers at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on Friday 20th May and Nottingham Lakeside Arts on Sunday 22^nd May 2016.

Tychonas’s role was to develop a sound system to reflect the idea of ‘us’ and ‘them’. After multiple attempts to address such distinction we created a system which we refer to as the ‘Mobile Sound Theatre’. The system consists of 24 portable loudspeakers that are placed in specific positions under the audience seats). The aim was to create a sound experience for the audience that is intimate and personal. The position of loudspeakers (under the seats) enable us to bring down any personal barriers in terms of personal space. In addition to the Mobile Sound Theatre, an octaphonic surround sound system is used. Both systems work in conjunction with each other creating a 32-channel audio system.

http://www.yuvalavital.com/fuga-perpetua-icon-sonic-opera-n-5

Transforming Transformation: 3D Models for Interactive Sound Design (2015-2016)
An AHRC-funded project in collaboration with Glasgow School of Art’s Digital Design Studios and  Two Big Ears.

The project opens up a new field of music technology research by exploring human-centred approaches to creative sound design. The project involves the development of a proof-of-concept system, which enables sound to be manipulated through hand movements as if it were an invisible 3D object. Real-time visualisation enhances the interaction within a virtual 3D space. The research surfaces the notion of a ‘natural’ interface for sound design taking account of already learned behaviour and innate skills such as motor memory, gesture and spatial awareness. In simple terms: our system explores the idea that we can make users feel as if they are directly positioning sound in space by ‘picking it up and moving it’ with their hands, with the aim of serving as an exemplar for future, more detailed studies.

Michailidis, T., Hockman, J. 2018. Affordances of Vibrational Excitation for Music Composition and Performances, In Proceedings of the Sound Music Computing (SMC), Limassol, Cyprus, 4-7 July 2018.

Granieri, N., Dooley, J and Michailidis, T. 2018 Harnessing ancillary microgestures in piano technique: implementing microgestural control into an expressive keyboard-based hyper-instrument, in Innovation In Music: performance, production, technology and business, Routledge (Forthcoming)

Michailidis, T. Dooley, J. Di Donato, B, Granieri, N.2018. Improvising through the senses: a performance approach with the indirect use of technology. Digital Creativity.

Michailidis, T. 2017. Vibrotactile feedback in dance performances. Poster presentation at the International Conference on Information, Communication Technologies in Education, ICICTE 2017, Rhodes, Greece, 6-8 July 2017

Michailidis, T. 2017. Non-verbal interaction through vibrotactile feedback. Paper &demo presentation at Research and Innovation Conference, Southampton Solent University, Southampton 3-4 May 2017.

Bullock, J., Michailidis, T. and Poyade, M. 2016. Towards a Live Interface for Direct Manipulation of Spatial Audio; Proceedings of the International Conference on Live Interfaces. REFRAME Books, Sussex.

Michailidis, T. and Di Donato, B.2016. Vibrotactile Feedback in Interactive Dance Performances. Paper presentation at In Dialogue Symposium, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, 1-2 December 2016.

Michailidis, T. 2015. Vibrotactile feedback in immersive environments. Paper presentation at Digital Research in the Arts and Humanities, Dublin City University, 1-3 September 2015.