Research, sonification and biosignals

Receive data from lab hardware and sensors, play datasets as sound, light or images, record and replay sessions, and build experiments and biofeedback pieces on a timeline. Free and open-source, developed with research labs.

Download ossia score 3.9.0 Try it in your browser Read the documentation

Free and open-source (GPLv3) · Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi and web browser

ossia score was born in research labs (project history) and is still developed with them. It connects scientific hardware and datasets to sound, video and light, for experiments, sonification and art made with physiological data.

What you can do

Lab hardware: Lab Streaming Layer (LSL) for EEG and other physiological devices, CAN bus with DBC databases, serial ports, Bluetooth LE sensors, and anything speaking OSC or MQTT (LSL, CAN, serial).
Datasets: open HDF5 and CSV files, including large columns, and play them as curves, arrays or textures (HDF5, data processing).
Sonification and visualisation: map data to synthesis, spatial sound, shaders, 3D or DMX lights, and plot signals while they arrive (data visualisation, Teleplot, signal display).
Biosignals and biofeedback: heart rate and other physiological signals drive sound, video and light, with smoothing, filtering and statistics (accumulator, value filter).
Record and replay sessions: record any device to CSV, replay it later, and record audio next to it (recording, CSV recorder).
Scripted protocols: write the experiment as a timeline with conditions, and automate it with the JavaScript API (scripting API).
Extend it: add your own C++ objects, expose your own software’s parameters with libossia, and build custom render pipelines for graphics research (plug-ins).

A performer wearing a sensor headset stands at a table in front of a large projection, while audience members lie on the floor among glowing LED tubes

BioSynth light show, Erin Gee: an LED and DMX light show driven by biosignals, run by ossia score headless on a Raspberry Pi.

Research needs, and how ossia score answers them

What you need	How ossia score does it
Getting data from lab hardware in real time	LSL, CAN, serial, Bluetooth LE, OSC and MQTT devices.
Hearing or seeing a dataset	HDF5 and CSV files played as curves, arrays or textures, mapped to sound, image and light.
Repeating a session exactly	Record devices to CSV and replay them, with the protocol written as a timeline.
Software that reviewers and other labs can use	Free, open-source (GPLv3), on Windows, macOS and Linux, with project files that open everywhere.
Adding your own algorithm	JavaScript, Faust, shaders and C++ extensions, or libossia in your own program.

See the gallery for works using physiological data, such as VIBH2O / VIB.E-MOTION by Fheel Concepts, a participatory circus performance driven by the audience’s heart rates.

Download ossia score 3.9.0 Try it in your browser Read the documentation

Free and open-source (GPLv3) · Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspberry Pi and web browser

More ways to use ossia score

Stage and music

Show control — Cues, scenes and timecode for theatre, concerts and events.
Live electronic music — Synths, drum machines, sampler, step sequencers and plug-ins, in sync with MIDI clock, timecode and visuals.
Spatial audio — DBAP, GBAP and trajectories over any loudspeaker layout, up to 1024 channels, and control of spatialisation renderers.
Dance and interactive theatre — Pose detection, depth cameras, sensors and tracking drive sound, video and light, inside cues and scenes.
Contemporary music and live electronics — Interactive scores that wait for the performers, cues from pedals, live processing and spatial sound.

Video and light

Video, mapping and VJing — Video playback, multi-projector mapping, shaders, 3D and NDI, synchronised with sound and light.
DMX lighting and LEDs — Art-Net, sACN and DMX USB with a fixture library, LED pixel mapping, all in sync with sound and video.
Generative art — Shaders, 3D, gaussian splats and live coding, performed live or rendered frame by frame.
Recording and streaming — Cameras, SDI, NDI and SRT in; ProRes or MP4 recording, RTMP streaming and NDI or Spout out.

Spaces and experiences

Interactive installations — Sensors, cameras and tracking, sound and video, running unattended on a PC or a Raspberry Pi.
Museums and exhibitions — Exhibits that run all day without staff, with monitoring, a staff control panel and kiosk apps.
Escape rooms and attractions — Puzzles, props and sensors driving sound, video and lights, with game logic and a game master panel.
Kinetic art and robotics — Motors, pumps and robots written on a timeline, reacting to sensors, in sync with sound, video and lights.

Tools and research

OSC, MIDI and DMX timeline — Automate any OSC, MIDI or DMX parameter on an interactive timeline, with triggers and conditions.
Visual programming — Patch audio, video and interaction with nodes and a timeline, and run your Pure Data patches.
Real-time AI — Pose detection, depth from a webcam, real-time image generation, language models and machine learning by example, run locally.
Protocol bridge — Convert between MIDI, OSC, DMX, MQTT, serial, HTTP and Bluetooth LE, with mapping and filtering, always on.
Teaching and workshops — One free tool for sound, video, light, sensors and code, on every OS, in the browser and on Raspberry Pi.
Custom apps — Package a project with your own interface as an app for Windows, macOS, Linux or the web.

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