Imagine being at a club. Sweaty bodies are pounding to heavy beats, drinks are flowing freely and blaring lights both surround and blind you. The ringleader in a scenario like this is usually a DJ in a booth with a mass of equipment that most people cannot refer to by name. Jan Jongboom’s SXSW Interactive session will present attendees with a glimpse into another way to get a room jumping.

Algoraving, short for algorithmic raving, looks like a typical club scene with one key substitution: the DJ and his equipment are replaced by a nerd with a laptop. The music doesn’t come from files on a computer or vinyl records, but from code and algorithms entered into a computer.

“It’s basically as nerdy as it sounds,” Jongboom said. “It’s a guy with a laptop going to an actual music venue and entertaining people.”

Session attendees will be provided with development kits and instruction that will allow them to produce music from code on the spot. The goal of the session, however, goes beyond teaching people how to make music using algorithms. Attendees will leave the session with a keener understanding of how to create relationships between devices and thus push them to participate in the Internet of Things.

Fostering participation in the Internet of Things is a major part of Jongboom’s life. He works as a developer evangelist for ARM, a company who is far from being a household name despite playing a pivotal role in making phones smart. ARM has developed chips which appear in virtually every smartphone and can count both Apple and Samsung among its major customers.

The same technology that has made phones so smart is making its way to other devices and Jongboom says his session will help attendees be part of putting new capabilities into action.

He is confident in the practical applications of his session and said it is entirely feasible that those who attend will leave with the ability to embark on their own projects. The example he gave was the creation of an alarm system that measures infrared light in order to find out if somebody is approaching a home. Such a system would be able to alert a resident’s smartphone in the event that somebody was detected. As remarkable as this example is, Jongboom suggests that it is merely the tip of the iceberg.

“What if every device could talk to every other device?” Jongboom asked excitedly. “What would your home tell you?”

When and Where:
Sunday, March 13
3:30 – 6 p.m.
Palmer Events Center – Room 1-2 / 900 Barton Springs Road

Find out more: Build IoT: Making Music on a Microcontroller