Animatrix is a computer dancer, reminding of a Bodhisattva, a Buddhist creature in half enlightened state.* The 'Animatrix' interactive installation consists of three parts: 1. the graphics program that calculates the movements of the Animatrix, depending on user input; 2. the music program that interactively composes the music, depending on user input; 3. the user interface, which is a joystick. The Animatrix reacts to any movement the user makes with the joystick, and starts to dance, and at the same time music is triggered. There is a relation between the joystick movements of the user, the dance of the Animatrix, and the music, but the relation is not straightforward: sometimes the Animatrix seems to be a willing dance partner, at other times it seems to have its own life and to dance its own dance. By playing with the system the user will gradually discover how he or she can influence and play with the Animatrix, the music and the rhythm. *A Bodhisattva's role is to mediate between Samsara (the world of illusion and suffering) and Nirvana (the state of calm, emotionless salvation). Bodhisattva's can have 1 to 11 heads and 2 to 1000 arms. The Animatrix has no heads and seven arms.

INTERACTION There are two levels of interaction: 1. moving the joystick gives direct control over some of the movements of the Animatrix, and over parts of the musical composition. 2. variations in the user's play are measured and analyzed over longer periods of time, and causeincreasingly complex changes in the patterns of music and dance.

USE OF THE INTERFACE You can influence the dance and the music directly and indirectly, by moving the joystick. Influencing the dance directly: Moving the joystick in the 'vertical' direction moves several body parts of the Animatrix directly forwards or backwards. Moving in the 'horizontal' direction moves other partsforwards or backwards. With the joystick you can also give an accelerationor deceleration to the dance: by speeding up or slowing down the movement and suddenly stopping, the acceleration/deceleration is preserved and the Animatrix keeps dancing with this speed until you start moving the joystick again. Influencing the rhythm directly: By moving the joystick you can 'scratch' the currently played music. When you stop scratching, the last played musical pattern is preserved and will be repeated, slowly changing over time. You can also give an acceleration/deceleration to the tempo of the music: when you stop the movement of the joystick suddenly, the tempo acceleration/deceleration is preserved. Influencing the dance and the music indirectly: The program keeps a record of which movements have been made with the joystick. It evaluates its use over a longer time, and assigns values to certain variables which are used for changing the dance and music algorithms. These values are used for propagation through the Animatrix body structure and its dancing and musical functions.

AUTHORS & PRODUCTION Concept and graphics programming: Akke Wagenaar, Cologne, Germany. Music composition and programming: Masahiro Miwa, Düsseldorf, Germany. Copyright: Akke Wagenaar, 1993, Cologne, Germany.