The Semantic Machine is a project developed by Tracy Redhead and Florian Thalmann. It uses the Semantic Player technology to create a song which changes based on the weather, time of day and location of the listener. The song changes just like we all do, depending on the time of day and weather. Its like it has a mind of its own. This project was part of the FAST research project. Fusing Audio and Semantic Technologies for Intelligent Music Production and Consumption (FAST) is a five year project funded by EPSRC. The project partners include Queen Mary University of London, The University of Nottingham, Oxford e-Research Centre, Abbey Road Red, Internet Archive, BBC, Audio Labs and Solid State Logic. “The project brings the very latest technologies to bear on the entire recorded music industry, end-to-end, producer to consumer, making the production process more fruitful, the consumption process more engaging, and the delivery and and intermediation more automated and robust.” FAST website.
The project has been developed over the past 8 years and has included a number of residencies at Queen Mary Univeristy, London and Kyoto University. The prototype was launched at Abbey Road Studios in London in October 2018 at the FAST Industry Launch.