This unique software provides real-time video imagery in response to music or MIDI data. When combined with improvised music, Orpheus permits the simultaneous creation and experience of a work of art. They are, in their very essence, collaborative works of art. Infrared sensors determine the position of the visitor, and alter the sound of the oncoming cars accordingly. In Ritter's installations, the spectator is enveloped by technology, and becomes as much a part of the work as the sensors, speakers and video projection equipment.
Human action is melded with technological systems creating an symbiotic and cybernetic hybrid.
By becoming part of the machine the spectator brings Ritter's art to life. The performance of Ritter's spectacle is dependent on the actions of the spectator, but also on the surveillance of that same spectator. The location and motion of each visitor to the space is observed by sensors, triggering a response in the installation. Ironically, in these works, it is ultimately through surveillance that the spectator is given power over the art.