What I was referring to was a typical instrument icon in a specific venue in MIR. This is not simply a graphic object that you move around. Each object has embedded in it information about the space (venue), direction the instrument points, natural volume, character, is it part of a group, microphone characteristics, EQ, and final volume. Move this objects and all this information travels with it. This is what I mean by a intelligent object it "knows" what to sound like in a new position. It also knows what to sound like in a group. I was hoping VI would pursue this concept in an embedded mixer in MIR. For example, you add a instrument to a mixer its volume is set refering to natural volume, add a second instrument both volumes adjust referring to position of instrument and natural volume and so on for all the instruments used. Now if you change the volume of say the timpani then there is a corresponding change in the other instruments reflecting there position and characteristics. This turns a dumb mixer into a "intelligent object". There are probably similar relationships for compression and EQ. Instead of Compressing the whole mix you compress one instrument and all the other instruments are compressed in a proportional and appropriate manner. Your programmers probably have most on the code needed to do this and probably only need to rethink the relationship and connections needed to make the attributes interact.
Hope this helps,
Stephen W. Beatty
http://www.youtube.com/user/Bachbeatty