The Interactive Multimedia Playroom

Rosemary & Harry Mountain — IMP-NESTAR

activities related to the Interactive Multimedia Playroom / Thesaurus / IMP-NESTAR
[updated February 2026]

Installations — short-term

  • [upcoming] — March 2026 — CIRMMT (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology), McGill, Montreal
  • [upcoming] — Feb 2026 — Breaking Circus, Halifax
  • Dec 2025 — “sneak preview” — Breaking Circus, Halifax
  • March 2025 — CIRMMT, McGill, Montreal
  • March 2013 — Espacios Sonoros conference hosted by the Centro Superior de Investigación y Promoción de la Música de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CSIPM-UAM) — introduced by Reitor D. José M. Sanz
  • July 2011 / 2012 / 2013 — Avanca | Cinema: International Conference Cinema: Art, Technology, Communication
  • May 2012 — Auditory Perception & Music Cognition Laboratory, UPEI, Charlottetown, PEI during Canada-Wide Science Fair
  • June 2010 — 2010 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences, hosted by Concordia University, as a featured research project, Montreal
  • March 2009 — SenseLab open house (leader Erin Manning), Concordia, Montreal
  • Oct 2007 — Symposium & installation of the IMP at Hexagram-Concordia Black Box, Montreal, Canada
  • Aug 2007 — Special event for the Society for Music Perception and Cognition conference, Montreal, Canada
  • May 2006 — First annual 24 Heures de Science in Montreal — UQÁM

Installations — long-term

  • mini-installation — CIRMMT, McGill — 2013–2014
  • École Saint-Pierre Apôtre, Montreal for children with learning difficulties, with Doris Ouellet (teacher), as partner in the Art & Technology programme Fais Ta Valise of the Commission Scolaire de Montréal — coordinator Mickaël Lafontaine — 2010–2012
  • Oboro Gallery, Montreal, Canada — April–May 2007

Demonstrations / customized visits

  • Visits with students from École des Nations as partner in the Art & Technology programme Fais Ta Valise of the Commission Scolaire de Montréal — coordinator Mickaël Lafontaine — 2008–2009
  • “MMT Travel Kit” — demonstration presented at the International Computer Music Conference, Barcelona, Sept. 2005
  • Presented as part of a symposium-concert ‘Music of all ages ... and genders’ at ISME 2008-28th International Society for Music Education World Conference with N Carignan (UQàM), M Gagné (Director, CMC Québec) and F Leblanc (Director, MAESTRA) — July 2008
  • Various presentations to Hexagram guests and sponsors, including municipal, regional, and federal government agencies and ministries; Cirque du Soleil and Daniel Langlois R&D teams; London Science Museum; etc. — 2005–2006

Talks / poster sessions

  • June 2013 — “Descriptors & Descriptees” presented at the Electroacoustic Music Studies EMS-13 conference, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Jan 2012 — "What is the Playroom--and Why?" — talk presented at Concordia in the context of Faculty Research Series lectures
  • Nov 2010 — Presentation of the IMP-Cubed at the Science & Technology Open Days, University of Aveiro, Portugal — with A. Veloso
  • Oct 2007 — “Playful Tools, Serious Questions” presented at the Canadian Acoustical Association conference, Montreal
  • June 2008 — "Sorting sounds: testing tools and strategies” presented at the Electroacoustic Music Studies EMS-08 conference, Paris-GRM
  • June 2008 — presentation of work-in-progress at the Universidade de Aveiro, Pt.
  • Oct 2006 — “Name that mood! Describe that tune! Invitation to the IMP” poster and demo at ISMIR (International Society for Music Information Retrieval), Victoria, BC, Canada
  • Aug 2006 — Report on the IMP — University of Prince Edward Island, Dept. of Psychology, hosted by Annabel Cohen — Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
  • July 2006 — Report on the IMP and Hexagram — in the context of DeCA in Festa — Dept of Communication and Art, University of Aveiro, Portugal
  • Oct 2005 — “Tool / Game / Environment: The Interactive Multimedia Thesaurus & Playroom” presented at EMS-05 Electroacoustic Music Studies conference, Montreal
  • Sept 2003 — “Flexible Frameworks: The Multimedia Thesaurus” presented at the V triennial ESCOM conference (European Society for Cognitive Studies in Music), Hannover, Germany

Documentation

  • Production of the booklet Overview of the IMP & NESTAR: a network of exploratory spaces for Temporal Arts Research — PDF online (www.IMP-NESTAR.com) — English & French versions, 40 pp. — Mar 2012 (French translation July 2012)
  • Interview with Ricardo Dal Farra, published on the website of the Centro de Experimentación e Investigación en Artes Electrónicas — 2008

Related projects

  • 2009 — “IMP-cubed” adapted as a game for children — Project leader: Ana Veloso, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Grants awarded

  • Hexagram Institute for Research/Creation in Media Arts & Technology (Montreal)
  • CIAM Centre Interuniversitaire des Arts Médiatiques (Montreal)
  • Concordia University, Montreal (CASA, Seed/Accelerator)
  • Canadian government (SSHRC — Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council)

And support from

  • CIRMMT — Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (McGill)
  • Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
  • Universidade Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
  • SmartBoard
  • As well as all the organizations which invited us or accepted our proposals — and numerous collaborators in Montreal, Dallas, Portugal, Spain, UK ....
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