I invited the students of AHO to test a spatial version of the Hitmetron. Noone came. Though this might be perceived as a fiasco as far as testing goes, I would prefer to focus on what I did learn.
I used the opportunity (the Hitmetron was set up in a room, I was there by myself, there was noone to disturb) to do some experimenting on my own.
I focused on two things:

1. The difference between passive and active user generated sound.
2. The possibilities and limitations of the hardware I had at hand.

The setup:

I mic'ed up a metal sheet that I placed at the entrance to the room. Nice clanging sound when stepping on it.

A projector and a screen, some "instruments" standing on a table, a mic'ed up metal sheet on another table

I hung a vocal mic from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Findings_Input:
It was apparent that in this configuration of the Hitmetron passive user generated input gave the most interesting results. Walking in and out of the room, hearing the impact on the sound loop was rather satisfying. Whereas the kiosk version was more of an instrument in itself, inviting use even though it was intimidating for most people, the spatial version opened up for more interesting work when it comes to the overall immersive experience. Nevertheless, I am concerned that making the user generated input too hidden might distance the work from the audience, creating a divide and reducing the intensity of the experience. I look forward to investigating this further.

Findings_Hardware:
First things first: I love my new computer. Everything runs smoothly. Now, over to the more test specific things.
- I need more microphones. Not just more microphones, but better microphones. The spectrum of frequencies they operate in is not satisfactory. They limit my possibilities.

Crappy mic...

- I need an audio mixer, for adjusting sound input before I run it through software. This was definitly a problem when testing: I had to use the OS’s mic amplifying function, rendering the audio even worse than it started off as.

How to distort sound in 1-2-3.

- I need proper speakers, to deliver the possible necessary oomph and fill the space with sound, be it loud or not.
- I might need an external sound card, to make it possible for me to assign different effects to different input. This I will have to explore at a later stage.

Appart from that a reflection on possibilities: feedback (as in audio feedback; mic -> speaker -> mic -> …) is an interesting effect to use in an installation. It is a fascinating thing when you use what is normally considered a fault with intention. Musicians use it from time to time, why not do the same in an installation? Just important to remember to put in some kind of harness function, if the sound get’s too loud it shuts off or something along those lines, feedback on the loose is not fun for long.

Oh, and one more thing: next time I’ll ask people in person instead of sending emails when I need test subjects….