Same Time, Same Place, Keep it Simple, Repeat: Four Rules for Establishing Causality in Interactive Audio-­Visual Performances

Recent consumer-grade technologies that extract physiological biosignals from users are being introduced into interactive live performances and innovating its practice. However, the relationship between these signals and the responsive audiovisual content is often not understood by the audience. Recent discoveries in neuro-science can address this issue by proposing perceptual cues that help us connect the things we see and hear in our environment. Drawing from the field of neuroscience, and more specifically the theory of crossmodal binding, this paper proposes four rules that govern the mechanism which attributes causality between audiovisual elements: same time, same place, keep it simple, repeat. Intended as a set of guidelines for artists, they will help the audience unify, and understand the underlying cause to, what they see and hear in a performance. The last section describes a brainwave-based performance called Ad Mortuos that applies these four rules. A video of the performance is available at http://www.tiny.cc/admortuos.