sssSnake: the technology

sssSnake is programmed in Lingo/Macromedia Director, using the asFFT Xtra which employs the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm and is written by Antoine Schmitt for Macromedia Director : http://www.as-ci.net/asFFTXtra/. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to analyze the parameters of the voice captured by the microphones. It then transforms the voice into frequency-based data. It decomposes a vocal signal into its components allowing a software that employs it to plot the voice characteristics of the signal (spectrogram). Hence, asFFT Xtra, which employs FFT, allows Director to respond to live input voice samples.

Four microphones are used to detect voice input. These microphones are plugged into the USB ports of the computer through different USB audio adapters. One microphone is positioned in the middle of each side of the table. A projector is placed below the table in the screen-based voice-visual version, and above the table in the voice-physical version .