Christmas video of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering CTU for 2023 is based on the equation people + technology = music
Even devices from the laboratories of electrical engineers, roboticists and computer scientists can be turned into musical instruments. In their Christmas video, researchers from CTU's Faculty of Electrical Engineering demonstrate this in an unconventional experiment by "tuning" their technology to the Christmas tune in the English carol We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
This year's Christmas video by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU puts the interplay between researchers and sound-generating technologies at the forefront. This time, the team of researchers and students from the CTU Faculty of Electrical Engineering was reinforced by the CTU Academic Orchestra and the CTU Prague Choir with their classical instruments and trained voices. The resulting fusion and original Christmas wishes in one can be viewed via link https://youtu.be/QGhB6Kg9r9g.
"Music can connect not only people, but also different disciplines, mathematics, physics, in our case especially electrical engineering and computer science. I think this is an ideal topic for a Christmas video," said Dr. Jiří Zemánek from the Department of Control Engineering, who, together with his colleague Krištof Pučejdl, was involved in the preparation and filming of the video with several technologies, such as the Rijke organ, ferrofluid and Gauss fountain.
"From there it was just a step to the idea of combining their devices with technologies used by Vojtěch Leischner and Pavel Husa, PhD students of the Department of Computer Graphics and Interaction. Their pendulum combines a synthesiser and an audio controller, while Vojtěch Leischner also works with juggling balls with a built-in gyroscope that generate rhythmic sounds," said Radovan Suk from the External Relations Department, who coordinated the project.
The creation of the video was also supported by Marek Novotný, a student of the Electronics and Communication programme, who occasionally organises concerts on Tesla transformers at the faculty's popularisation events. Iconic robots were also given space – robo-dog SPOT, humanoid Pepper, Ludwig composed of Legos or balancing SK8O, who are programmed in the video "autonomously" to wish "Merry Christmas" by dancing in a separate final section. Behind their movement is Ing. Bedřich Himmel from the Department of Cybernetics, Open Informatics student Daria Mikhailovskaya from the Humanoid Robotics Lab, Dr. Martin Hlinovský and Ing. Krištof Pučejdl, both from the Department of Control Engineering.
A key role was played by Jan Kavan, who, in addition to composing music, develops computer games, deals with interactive music systems, and technology is his area of interest. Jan Kavan gave order to all partial isolated sounds and connected them with classical instruments of the CTU Academic Orchestra under the direction of conductor Jan Šrámek and the CTU Prague Choir.
"When I was approached to arrange the traditional Christmas song We Wish You a Merry Christmas from the 16th century for Tesla transformers, Rijke organ, ferrofluid or several robots, I did not hesitate for a moment and accepted the offer. The combination of experimental technologies with the choir and the chamber orchestra of the CTU, in which I ended up playing the cello as part of the recording, turned out well, mainly thanks to the great commitment of everyone involved. I firmly believe that the final form of the Christmas video will be pleasing in the run-up to Christmas, and given the great cooperation, I will gladly lend a hand in other similar projects," added Jan Kavan about the unusual cooperation.
The Christmas video of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU is the third one in a row - the tradition was started two years ago by a video with robots, which brought under the tree the most interesting robots that academics use for their research. In 2022, FEL CTU's video recalled the atmosphere of the Signal Festival, when its robot zoo on Charles Square became one of the attractions of the entire Prague edition of the show. Just like in 2021, a team of filmmakers around director Oliver Beaujard and cinematographer Daniel Hotovy collaborated on this year's Christmas video.
