The Melodies of Pittsburgh

Introduction

While doing the precedent research about the location and the neighbourhood, it was impossible to overlook the fact that there is a growing disconnect between the new and old occupants of the area due to fast-paced gentrification. On multiple articles, the newcomers to the area are portrayed as being unaware of the rich and vibrant culture of the city and the neighbourhood. Therefore, I wanted to create a project that pays tribute to the this cultural heritage by exploring the impact of Pittsburgh musicians had on jazz, one of the first genuine American art forms.  

What is it?

It is an audio-visual installation that aims to help the new occupants of Bakery Square acknowledge and discover the history and culture of the city that is overlooked due to rapid change and gentrification, through jazz. It showcases the works of 11 jazz musicians from Pittsburgh using their recordings and the cover art that accompanied those recordings.   

The Artists

The artists I've selected for the installation are listed below. The entries are ordered by date of birth. This order is also preserved in the interactive walkway.  

Just to make things clear before we go any further, the list provided below is by no means exhaustive. I was only able to spend a few hours to investigate the history of jazz history in the city of Pittsburgh. So the artists listed below belong to the list of musicians who I was able to uncover in a glance and who I personally think made an impact on the history of jazz.

I'm aware that there are other great jazz musicians that are from Pittsburgh. For example, while attending a concert yesterday I found out Erroll Garner, an extremely talented jazz pianist, who is considered as one of the greatest is also from Pittsburgh. The fact that I didn't encounter his name while doing my initial research does not mean that he was a musician of lesser importance. 

Google Resources

Google, being the leading figure of information on the internet, has done and still doing a lot of research on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Computer Vision. Judging by the job postings on the Google Career website, we can clearly see that the work and research that is being done in their Pittsburgh office is focused heavily on the research and development of Artificial Intelligence technology. Therefore, I wanted to leverage Google's Artificial Intelligence work on my project. 

Here's a list of links that I've looked into during my research that showcase the Artificial Intelligence tools created or experiments conducted by Google. 

Google + AI 

• AI Experiments
• AI Blog
• Machine Learning Crash Course
• "Google’s AI doodle bot will transform your crude drawings into glorious clip art"
• "Google's AI Can Dream, and Here's What it Looks Like"
• TFGAN

Google + Computer Vision

• Perception
• Cloud Vision
• Mobile Vision

The Experience

The occupants of the Google's Pittsburgh office entering the bridge will be able to listen to the musical recordings of the artists listed above. The screens placed on the sides of the tunnel will accompany the music that is playing by displaying animations and visuals generated using GAN algorithms and the cover art from the discography of the respective artist. The visuals displayed on the screens will be visible both inside and outside the tunnel. 

Passive Interaction

Google's computer vision technologies will be used to detect the occupants passing through the tunnel. Specific areas on the walkway will represent a musician. So, as occupants pass through, the path they follow will help queue new songs to the "playlist". 

Active Interaction

If an occupant wants to indulge in the music of a specific artist, they will be able to do that by standing on the area dedicated to that artist for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, the music that is currently being played will transition into a song by the artist they would like to listen along with the accompanying visuals. In "Active Interaction Mode" the volume of the music played will be slightly higher compared to "Passive Interaction Mode" to allow a better listening experience. When the occupants leave the specified area, the system will get back into "Passive Interaction Mode" and the volume of the music will be decreased.  

The Walkway

The circular areas that represent a musician from the list above are oriented to resemble the keys on a saxophone, a prominent instrument used in jazz. 

Data Flow Diagram

Yellow - Sensors

Blue - Computer 

Grey - Database

Green - Output

Bill Of Materials

• 20 x Rectangular LED Panels - Blizzard IRIS-INSITE-2.5 (~1500$ each)
• 6 x Speakers - KRK ROKIT 5 G3 Powered Studio Monitor (~150$ each)
• 3 x Cameras - Microsoft Kinect One Sensor (~300$ each)
• 1 x Computer w/ sufficient GPU - 3000$
• 1 x Lighting Controller Interface -  2000$
• Fixtures
• Cables 

Total Material Cost: ~40000$