Live AV systems range from fully autonomous algorithmic performance to semi-autonomous systems guided from a higher level

Schacher identifies two trends in software-based live cinema: (1) total absence of the author in favor of an autonomous algorithmic system that performs within boundaries set by programming; (2) semi-autonomous systems controlled at a higher level, guided toward desired results without complete deterministic control. The first is fully generative: the system runs itself within designed constraints. The second is more like an improvised performance: the author navigates emergent behavior by making decisions at a meta level (starting/stopping processes, adjusting parameters, routing), rather than controlling every detail. The second tendency is described as ‘more concerned with psychologically poignant expressions, than with the details of control.‘

Examples

(1) Algorithmic: a Hydra patch running a chaotic attractor animation set in motion at the start of a set with no further input — autonomous until stopped. (2) Semi-autonomous: a Hydra patch where the live coder adjusts one or two parameters in real time in response to the music, guiding the emergent behavior.

Assessment

Design a 10-minute live AV patch that is semi-autonomous: specify what the algorithm does on its own and what the performer actively controls. Explain what ‘navigating emergent behavior’ means in practice for your patch.