Trial lecture
"Sound synthesis and sonic interaction in VR and XR"
Time and place: June 22, 2026 11:15 AM. Forsamlingssalen, Harald Schjeldrups hus
Main research findings
This dissertation aimed to design, implement, and evaluate “Human-Swarm Interactive Music Systems” within 3D virtual and physical-virtual environments. In these systems, agents are virtual objects in space that can produce sound and music, and are controlled by virtual interfaces. The physical-virtual setting is delivered using Extended Reality (XR) through a Head-Mounted Display (HMD), particularly using mixed reality; that is, combining the physical space with virtual objects that can be manipulated with hands.
Two of these systems were evaluated from two perspectives: system-centered and human-centered. System-centered evaluations, which involved simulations and benchmarking, identified emergent properties of the autonomous swarms for sound and music. Human-centered evaluations, including auto-ethnographies and a large-scale user study, showed that effective human-swarm collaboration requires carefully designed control interfaces. Additionally, the strategies users utilized for music improvisation were identified.
The work contributes to research on artistic explorations in musical multi-agent systems, as well as to a range of real-world applications, including contemporary digital arts, interdisciplinary artistic practices, game development, and XR systems. Ultimately, the results of this work show that collaboration between a human and autonomous agents creates a synergy that reflects an acclaimed quote on “emergence”: “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Adjudication committee
- Professor Stefania Serafin, Copenhagen hearing and balance center, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen
- Associate Professor Kıvanç Tatar, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden:
- Professor Özgü Mira Alay-Erduran, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
Professor Kyrre Glette, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
Postdoctoral Fellow Alexander Szorkovszky, Simula Research Laboratory
Professor Stefano Fasciani, Department of Musicology
Chair of defence
Associate Professor Kai Olav Ellefsen Department of Informatics, University of Oslo,
Contact information at Department: Mozhdeh Sheibani Harat