Photo​SYNTH Help Guide!

The PhotoSYNTH is a multiplayer collaborative musical instrument that encourages group play and social interactions. It can be used unmanned, where it will show it's own instructions and help out where it can. Also, there is the option of manned cooperative control, where an overseer chooses instruments, tempo and visual modes on a per person basis.

On rare occassions, the software may act unexpectedly. If so, please check out the information below to try and resolve any issues you may be facing. If the issue is not listed below, please contact me using the information in the contact panel.

• System has hung unexpectedly

  Close the browser window and restart it

• Multiple cameras connected and the wrong one is used

  Click the settings button (bottom left in the control panel with a cog icon) and then select the camera from the list. If your camera is not listed, unplug and replug the camera into a different available USB socket. If it doesn't change on first select, try it again as sometimes cameras go to sleep if inactive.

• Audio is crackly or has pops and clicks

  It may be that your computer simply is not powerful enough to run the software unthrottled. Often laptops when they get too hot restrict the available resources in order to help them cool down, but this takes resources away from the software which results in the audio struggling to keep up with everything. Solutions may include cooling your computer with a heatsink or fan, adding more memory and a stronger GPU and disabling all software running in the background.

• Screen image is blurred and out of focus

  Camera has likely lost focus and autofocus is not recognising the people. Waving your hands and trying to catch the attention of the camera might kickstart the camera into focussing. If things do not improve, disconnect the USB camera and connect to another USB socket, restarting the browser and rerunning the software.

• People not being recognised

  Lighting must be fixed and illuminating with a consistent glow. Sometimes strip lights cycle at frequencies similar to the refresh rates of monitors, if that is the case, the camera will appear to strobe. In these cases, it is best to turn off overhead CEF lights and instead use lighting with a constant illumination such as LED, incandescent or cold lamps.

• No Sound being played

  Ensure that the headphone socket is connected to the speaker and that the volume in the operating system is set high and not muted. There is a mute and volume section in the control panel of the software iteself but it is best avoided in this instance.

• Sound only coming out of one channel (left or right ear)

  There is a stereo effect when you look left or right that is quite significant in its affect. If the person is angled to the camera, then their eyes may be panning the audio to one side. If they are far enough from the camera and central this should not affect them to that degree.

• In single player mode, where multiple people are playing, the most prominent face is played - but this may not be the person wearing the headphones

  The easiest fix would be to restrict the quantity of people playing or ensuring that the person with the headset is closest to the camera. We discovered interesting behaviours where kids were trying to "steal focus" which is a game I had not anticipated before. When this happens it is best to encourage them to experience the multiplayer version or to give them some takeaways such as the app to play at home.

If all else fails, turn the machine off and on again. Password is simple to remember but should auto login.