Dr. Stephen Roddy is a Sound and Music Computing (SMC) researcher specializing in Sonification and Auditory Display at University College Cork (UCC). A member of the Radical Humanities Laboratory (Future Humanities Institute), he serves as Programme Director for the MA in Digital Arts and Humanities in the Department of Digital Humanities. He holds a PhD in Sonification from Trinity College Dublin (Electronic & Electrical Engineering Dept.), and his research integrates media engineering with music composition to develop effective systems for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Stephen’s work is currently focused on sonification for the Internet of Sounds (IoS) and ethical approaches to artificial intelligence & machine learning (AI/ML) in creative audio. His research is theoretically grounded with reference to cybernetics, embodied cognition, and posthumanism.
Stephen’s previous projects have involved the design of auditory display solutions for large-scale IoT networks and investigated the integration of generative systems, cybernetic design principles, and AI/ML techniques in automated music synthesis systems. This work was carried out under an IRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at CONNECT: the Research Ireland Centre for Future Networks and Communications, at TCD, and subsequently at the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at TCD. His work is widely disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publications, conference proceedings and book chapters. As a member of the committee on Ethically Aligned Design in the Arts (under the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems), he contributed to the IEEE Standards Authority Report on Ethically Aligned Approaches to AI in the Arts.
Stephen maintains a vibrant and diverse creative and performing arts practice which forms a core component of his research activity. His artistic projects span a variety of media and styles, including music composition and performance, generative and data-driven music, and sound art installation and performance. His work, described as majestic and sweeping yet beautifully unsettling, is frequently performed and installed all over the world. His most recent musical releases Leviathan, Corpus/Mimesis, and Stardust Sonata are all available through Fiadh Productions. Recent events have included the ElettroAQustica 10 in L’Aquila, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival and the Earth Rising Festival at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.