Watching the video for Sub-Trakt (what seems to be a combination room and musical instrument), it occurred to me there is one principle in instrument design which seems fairly consistent. There is not always a straightforward intuitive relationship between space and pitch, but any instrument I can think of has a direct way of modelling staccato/legato: if you hold a piano key, you get sustain; if you strike it, you get a punctuated sound.

The designers of Sub-Trakt seem to have figured out a way to translate movements in a room so that gradual movements produce sustaining sounds, while sudden movements produce punctuated sounds—yet there always seems to be some level of sound echoing in the hall.

Big ups to that.