Seeing what the audience feels: Live visualization of audience engagement during a music event

This thesis evaluates the influence of audience engagement as an aesthetic element for providing visual enhancement to a music concert. The audience engagement is gathered using Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensors, which the audience wears on their hands during the concert. In a small experimental setting two visualizations are compared: the first visualization is driven only by the music of the concert, while the second visualization takes into account also the engagement of the audience. The hypothesis of this experiment is validated, the visualization enriched with the audience engagement adds value to the experience: the concert is enhanced with an additional visual layer, which causes a higher level of immersion and feeling of togetherness among the audience. This could be an approach of a new multilayered concept of cultural events, merging visual interactive arts with live music, creating a deeper shared experience. In the future it is planned to test the visualizations in a live setting, to confirm and extend the results that were gathered in this experiment.