INTERACTIVE INFRASONIC ENVIRONMENT: A New Type of Sound Installation for Controlling Infrasound

This paper proposes a new type of interactive sound instrument for use with audiences in sound installations and musical performances. The Interactive Infrasonic Environment allows users to perceive and experiment with the vibration and acoustic energy produced by infrasound. This article begins with a brief overview of infrasound and examines its generation, human perception, areas of application and some odd myths. Infrasound is sound with a frequency lower than 20 hertz (20 cycles per second) – outside the normal limits of human hearing. Nevertheless the human body can perceive such low frequencies via cross-modal senses. This paper describes three key aspects of infrasonic sound technologies: the artificial generation of infrasound, the human perception of infrasound, and the interactive environment for sound installations and musical performances. Additionally we illustrate these ideas with related works from the field of sound art and interactive art.