Why it matters
Open Culture Tech tackles the growing divide between artists who can access emerging technology and those who can’t.
Immersive technology is often expensive and complex, preventing many from exploring new tools. Through artistic residencies, we co-create open-source tools, publish practical insights, and host public showcases to lower these barriers. By expanding access, we help level the playing field and contribute to open and artist-led innovation.
How we did it
The role of AIxDESIGN in the project is two-fold:
🪈 Sonic Shikara →
At AIxD, we’re collaborating with artist-in-residence Mihir Raina to build an AI-powered music-making tool that explores the archives of Kashmiri music for creative inspiration, rather than production efficiency.
🎹 AIxMusic Workshop Series →
As part of OCT, AIxD & Thunderboom are hosting a series of online and offline workshops around Immersive Tech and Gen AI for music artists.
Output
Speculative Sound Worlds with Nicole Chufi
We hosted two workshop sessions with audiovisual artist Nicole Chufi for a hands-on workshop exploring "Speculative Sound Worlds" first at The Sphere, NDSM, in Amsterdam and second time online. You can read the full workshop description here.
Nicole, who works at the intersection of sound, visuals, technology, and storytelling, brought a unique approach: reverse engineering the approach to sound by incorporating conceptual visual queues for sonification, while treating AI tools as an "alien collaborator", generating unique samples that can help create an alternative sample library.
The two session drew a diverse group—from spoken word artists with little music production experience to amateur DJs and interaction designers.
See the Workshop Recap
Transiting the Latent Space: Exploring Variational Audio Autoencoders with Linalab
In October 2025, we hosted Barcelona-based musician, educator, and live coder Lina Bautista for a hands-on workshop exploring variational audio autoencoders at DOOR Open Space in Amsterdam.
Lina is a musician, artist, educator, and developer who combines modular synths, DIY electronics, and computers to make music and engage audiences in sound technologies. She's part of Toplap Barcelona and Axolot colectives, and teaches at universities in Barcelona. Her approach treats AI as a craft technique—designing tools for expression rather than replacement.
This philosophy shaped the entire workshop: rather than treating AI as a black box that generates finished tracks from text prompts, Lina guided participants through the inner workings of neural audio synthesis, showing how to manipulate sound at a fundamental level.
See the Workshop Recap
Related projects.
(2019-25©)
