Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
More than 250 researchers and musicians from around the world are gathered this week on LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge for an international conference focused on human-computer interaction and how it affects musical performances.
The four-day conference is called the New Interfaces for Musical Expression, or NIME, and it attracts musicians, tech professionals and others from the digital-cultural sphere.
“It’s huge that we are hosting this conference,” says Jesse Allison, a professor of experimental music and digital media at LSU. “This is about inventing the musical instruments of the future.”
Allison and his colleague, Steve Beck, were instrumental in attracting the 15-year-old conference to LSU. Last year it was held in London, and in 2013 it was held in Seoul, South Korea. That Baton Rouge and LSU would play host this year is significant for several reasons, not the least of which is the prestige factor.
“It raises the bar for LSU and Baton Rouge quite a bit,” Allison says. “We have some of the best names and minds from institutions around the world here showcasing their work and seeing what we have to offer as well.
The field of cultural computing is exploding, and LSU—which has invested heavily in digital media and its Center for Computation and Technology in recent years—has many resources that made it attractive to conference organizers, Allison says. Much media attention has been given to the state’s investment in the film industry over the past decade, but Allison says an equally significant investment has been made in digital media and that the investment is starting to pay off.
“There is a ton of things going on here in terms of creative activity events, and companies that have come from that,” Allison says. “I don’t think a lot of people have gotten to see that.”
NIME 2015 runs through Thursday. See the full lineup of conference events.
—Stephanie Riegel
Publish Date:
6-2-2015
