I’ve written previously about the idea of virtual worlds made up of ambient sound-objects.

The world of ambient music could use kick in the seat of the pants, and making it less passive might just do it.

Brian Eno’s template for ambient music – infinite soundscapes structured around asynchronous loops – has been explored for thirty years. While it’s still a fertile area for musicians, listeners are becoming more and more interested in the idea of interacting with musical creations, through things like remixing, mashups and music games.

Virtual 3D worlds offer a great opportunity for this. Check out the video above. It’s a demo video from Im3Labs that shows their AirStrike technology being used to allow “free-air” interactivity with 3D models.

Then consider Toshio Iwai’s Electroplankton – a Nintendo DS game that lets you interact with sound-objects and interact with ambient sound worlds that respond to your voice and touch.

An interactive 3D hologram could be even more compelling, allowing virtual environments with 3D sound-objects that react to your gestures. They could also include 3D instruments that you can play virtually.

Sound cool? It sounds far out – but it’s also within reach.

So throw your hands in the air, and wave em like you just don’t care;
Interact with a holograph, everybody gonna scream “oh yeah”

Let me know what you think of the possibilities.