The human brain has long been a subject of fascination for art and science, which are now both mixed into \u201cBrainstorms: A Great Gig in the Sky<\/a>,\u201d a new live interactive experience to the tune of Pink Floyd.<\/p>\n Interactivity is optional, but memorable. Exhibition visitors can opt in (and pay extra) to have their brain activity recorded while listening to Pink Floyd\u2019s classic album \u201cThe Dark Side of the Moon\u201d \u2014 and later on, displayed as a mesmerizing cloud synced to that same soundtrack in a very large room of London\u2019s immersive art gallery Frameless.<\/p>\n Immersive art venues have been popping up across the world, often featuring popular painters whose works blend walls, ceilings and floors around the visitors. But combining the concept with music and a live element brings \u201cBrainstorms\u201d closer to \u201cABBA Voyage,\u201d<\/a> for instance.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s not their only thing in common: Both shows similarly use technology as an enabler, not a focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n This makes \u201cBrainstorms\u201d different from last year\u2019s groundbreaking experiment in which neuroscientists were able to re-create<\/a> Pink Floyd\u2019s \u201cAnother Brick in the Wall, Part 1\u201d using AI to decipher the brain\u2019s electrical activity.<\/a> This time, it is a spectacle<\/a>.<\/p>\n While advanced technology is involved behind the scenes, from Emotiv<\/a> EEG headsets and spatial audio to Unreal-powered<\/a> visualizations, the starting point of the Brainstorms project was very much music \u2014 more precisely, that of late Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wright\u2019s daughter, Gala, wanted to do something special for the 50th anniversary of the album featuring \u201cThe Great Gig in the Sky,\u201d the iconic tune composed by her father, with no less memorable vocal composition by Clare Torry. \u201cSo we started to put together ideas,\u201d composer and music technologist JJ Wiesler told TechCrunch during the premiere.<\/p>\n Wiesler is the co-founder of Pollen Music Group<\/a>, a San Francisco-based creative outlet renowned for its music scores and sound design. With both a music studio and a lab where it works with VR\/XR headsets, phones, home devices and more, Pollen isn\u2019t new to experimenting. But \u201cthis is a bit of a change to take it into the exhibition world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It was Gala Wright who had the idea to focus on neuroscience and the study of the human brain\u2019s reaction to music. This led her and Pollen to partner with Dolby to record the brain activity of 125 volunteers listening to \u201cThe Great Gig in the Sky,\u201d synced with ad hoc software, Wiesler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Conducted last year, the experiment forms the basis of \u201cAurora,\u201d a creation in which the moon casts a glow over the arctic tundra, progressing into an aurora borealis.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAurora\u201d takes up the entirety of Frameless\u2019s largest gallery, but there are four in total, which wasn\u2019t part of the original plan. With 30,000 square feet at its disposal, the Brainstorms team came up with more than fillers. Keeping \u201cgreat gigs in the sky\u201d as its overarching theme, it took on a room of its own with \u201cEclipse\u201d and enlisted London-based music artist Imogen Heap for a bird-inspired room.<\/p>\n A musician known for engaging<\/a> with technology<\/a>, Heap is doubly featured in \u201cMurmur,\u201d which is set to her ambient track Cumulus, while two starling flocks \u2014 murmurations \u2014 represent her brain activity and her daughter dancing in the sunset.\u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps more clearly than in any other room, this visualization gives us a glimpse of how the same music can affect different people. That\u2019s the science part of Brainstorms: During the visit, participants will learn that visualizations reflect what others felt while listening to Pink Floyd.\u00a0<\/p>\n In \u201cAurora,\u201d engagement triggers red aurora hues, relaxation adds \u201ca calming blue,\u201d and excitement enlivens the movement of the aurora, exhibition panels explain. Meanwhile, in \u201cEclipse,\u201d raw electrical power from the brain fuels solar activity, driving flares and ejections, while regional activity of the brain is aligned spatially with the sun\u2019s surface activity.<\/p>\n For visitors who opt into EEG readings, it goes more personal: A couple of days after their visit, they\u2019ll receive a summary of their brain activity. It comes with science-based explanations on gamma, beta, alpha and theta brain waves and what it says about one\u2019s state of mind, but it\u2019s arguably the personalized visualization that they will remember the most.<\/p>\n \u201cWe created a visualization engine that was about how clouds form, because Richard Wright was an amateur photographer who took thousands of pictures of clouds,\u201d Wiesler said. Cross that with data and neuroscience, and you get the Cloud Gallery.<\/p>\n \u201cEnjoy your cloud,\u201d the PR person tells me before I wander into the vast room to watch my brain on-screen, moments after Imogen Heap did just the same. Because of steps taken to preserve anonymity, only you will know which cloud is yours, but the look in your eyes might be a tell.<\/p>\n From ASMR to brain-themed museum exhibitions, there\u2019s rising interest in what music does to our brains<\/a>, but there\u2019s something about Pink Floyd\u2019s music that makes it a perfect fit for such a display. \u201cDue to popular demand,\u201d \u201cBrainstorms\u201d already added new dates to its London residency, its organizers said, and I won\u2019t be surprised if it eventually makes its way to other cities and immersive venues around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Aurora-Brainstorms-\u00a9Antonio-Pagano.jpg?w=680\")
Get off my cloud<\/h2>\n
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