Appearances
FutureX Live Conference ’17
SXSW ’19
Made With
Dillon Lane / Original 3D Modeling
Contributions
User Experience Design
Art Direction
Unreal Engine Programming
On-Site Installation
Music Composition
Live Performance
Technical Direction
Conceptual Brainwave and Virtual Reality Performance
The Process
MELD is a conceptual VR+BMI audiovisual performance composed and performed by The Glad Scientist. When asked to perform at the 2017 FutureX Live Conference, the artist decided to combine themes from the conference to create an original, first of it’s kind performance.
Utilizing a Muse headband and an HTC Vive, the performer composes and modulates the audio in real time in virtual reality, while sharing the output of his brainwaves via a procedurally generated 3D world built in Unreal Engine 4.
Throughout its process of creation, the artist utilized Oculus Medium, Google Blocks, TouchDesigner and other more traditional software to create assets and map interactions for the piece. The artist sends his deepest thanks and love to his collaborator Dillon Lane, who is responsible for much of the VFX and visual content of the piece.
A great deal of focus was directed at honing in on different brain states and practicing meditation as well as documenting EEG readings during musical and visual art composition, VR engagement, computer programming, and of course sleep. The artist described this piece as their most vulnerable to date.
“In past VR performances I show my audience what I see and do, giving them a slice of my consciousness. With MELD, I have zero filter and am in a room full of scientists and experts…it is my brain and my self, open for all to see. I really wanted to challenge myself to go as deep as possible internally, while allowing an undisturbed observation of the process. All I can say is I hope they enjoy my faults.”
THE DEEPER CONCEPT
Through three phases (Separation, Escape to Nature, Union) the artist weaves a story of our present and possible future in relation to ourselves and the technological plurality.
Our interaction with technology is ubiquitous, yet feels removed. We crouch over tiny shards of light, while our loved ones grasp for elbows just out of reach, pulling us back, dragging us back by the arm hairs of our being to escape from this bright aura of near-missed connections.
Alone, in nature, we find ourselves free. Free from the barrage of hyper frequent frequencies and Morse code mischievousness. Our bodies become the pasture we stroke, our minds massaged by the rivers we float. This peace and moment of calm a reminder of the many past selves we held.
As blinks turn to pause, our eyes shrouded in clouds, a feeling of immenseness overwhelms. There is something more, something inaccessible merely with this past serpentine configuration of dimensional denizens. Peeling back our faces we face, this mystery, where the truth inside must meld.






