No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Building Low-Cost Music Controllers
Abstract
This paper presents our work on building low-cost music controllers intended for educational and creative use. The main idea was to build an electronic music controller, including sensors and a sensor interface, on a ``10 euro'' budget. We have experimented with turning commercially available USB game controllers into generic sensor interfaces, and making sensors from cheap conductive materials such as latex, ink, porous materials, and video tape. Our prototype controller, the CheapStick, is comparable to interfaces built with commercially available sensors and interfaces, but at a fraction of the price.
... In assessing these existing products, the high cost and limited portability can be prohibitive, providing an opportunity for new product development to address these limitations. The aim would be to develop a product offering that drastically reduces the price, while increasing portability and maintaining sound quality [7]. ...
... Taking inspiration from existing products such as the roll-up drum kit and roll-up piano ( Figure 2), there is potential to develop a low-cost roll-up steel pan interface [7]. As the name suggests, the roll-up drum kit and roll-up piano are devices that use force sensors to trigger sound samples, but instead of being based on a rigid product housing, the sensors are mounted on a foldable substrate. ...
The steelpan (steel drum) is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, there have been various innovations in the design of the steelpan, including new electronic versions. This paper presents an addition to the family of digital steelpan instruments in the form of a low-cost roll-up digital steelpan (similar to a roll-up piano or roll-up drum kit). The idea as conceptualized is to have a flexible surface with solid steelpan notes following the traditional circle of fifths pattern. The playing surface could then easily roll up for transport and storage. The design of the roll-up digital steelpan is presented together with results on initial testing with musicians. Plans for further development of the product are also discussed.
... This plethora of input devices ranges from low-cost music controllers (Jensenius, Koehly & Wanderley, 2006) like sensors to be supplied to large groups of interactive participants at a reasonable cost (Feldmeier & Paradiso, 2007) over interfaces that constitute some form of hardware hacking for the purpose of electronic music creation and manipulation (Collins, 2009) of over-the-counter commercial sensor-enabled technologieslike Wiimotes (Kiefer, Collins, & Fitzpatrick, 2008a) to state-of-the-art custom-built wireless technologies (Kuyken et al., 2008) that can be used as musical controllers. This vast array of gesture-recognizing or feature-extracting devices are in turn used to enable various forms and degrees of interaction in multimedia art (Bongers, 2000). ...
This research project deals with the user-experience related to embodied music mediation technologies. More specifically, adoption and policy problems surrounding new media (art) are considered, which arise from the usability issues that to date pervade new interfaces for musical expression. Since the emergence of new wireless mediators and control devices for musical expression, there is an explicit aspiration of the creative industries and various research centers to embed such technologies into different areas of the cultural industries. The number of applications and their uses have exponentially increased over the last decade. Conversely, many of the applications to date still suffer from severe usability problems, which not only hinder the adoption by the cultural sector, but also make culture participants take a rather cautious, hesitant, or even downright negative stance towards these technologies. Therefore, this thesis takes a vantage point that is in part sociological in nature, yet has a link to cultural studies as well. It combines this with a musicological frame of reference to which it introduces empirical user-oriented approaches, predominantly taken from the field of human-computer-interaction studies. This interdisciplinary strategy is adopted to cope with the complex nature of digital embodied music controlling technologies.
Within the Flanders cultural (and creative) industries, opportunities of systems affiliated with embodied interaction are created and examined. This constitutes an epistemological jigsaw that looks into 1) “which stakeholders require what various levels of involvement, what interactive means and what artistic possibilities?”, 2) “the way in which artistic aspirations, cultural prerequisites and operational necessities of (prospective) users can be defined?”, 3) “how functional, artistic and aesthetic requirements can be accommodated?”, and 4) “how quality of use and quality of experience can be achieved, quantified, evaluated and, eventually, improved?”. Within this multi-facetted problem, the eventual aim is to assess the applicability of the foresaid technology, both from a theoretically and empirically sound basis, and to facilitate widening and enhancing the adoption of said technologies.
Methodologically, this is achieved by 1) applied experimentation, 2) interview techniques, 3) self-reporting and survey research, 4) usability evaluation of existing devices, and 5) human-computer interaction methods applied – and attuned – to the specific case of embodied music mediation technologies. Within that scope, concepts related to usability, flow, presence, goal assessment and game enjoyment are scrutinized and applied, and both task- and experience-oriented heuristics and metrics are developed and tested.
In the first part, covering three chapters, the general context of the thesis is given. In the first chapter, an introduction to the topic is offered and the current problems are enumerated. In the second chapter, a broader theoretical background is presented of the concepts that underpin the project, namely 1) the paradigm of embodiment and its connection to musicology, 2) a state of the arts concerning new interfaces for musical expression, 3) an introduction into HCI-usability and its application domain in systematic musicology, 4) an insight into user-centered digital design procedures, and 5) the challenges brought about by e-culture and digitization for the cultural-creative industries. In the third chapter, the state of the arts concerning the available methodologies related to the thesis’ endeavor is discussed, a set of literature-based design guidelines are enumerated and from this a conceptual model is deduced which is gradually presented throughout the thesis, and fully deployed in the “SoundField”-project (as described in Chapter 9).
The following chapters, contained in the second part of the thesis, give a quasi- chronological overview of how methodological concepts have been applied throughout the empirical case studies, aimed specifically at the exploration of the various aspects of the complex status quaestionis. In the fourth chapter, a series of application-based tests, predominantly revolving around interface evaluation, illustrate the complex relation between gestural interfaces and meaningful musical expression, advocating a more user- centered development approach to be adopted. In the fifth chapter, a multi-purpose questionnaire dubbed “What Moves You” is discussed, which aimed at creating a survey of the (prospective) end-users of embodied music mediation technologies. Therefore, it primarily focused on cultural background, musical profile and preferences, views on embodied interaction, literacy of and attitudes towards new technology and participation in digital culture. In the sixth chapter, the ethnographical studies that accompanied the exhibition of two interactive art pieces, entitled "Heart as an Ocean" & "Lament", are discussed. In these studies, the use of interview and questionnaire methodologies together with the presentation and reception of interactive art pieces, are probed. In the seventh chapter, the development of the collaboratively controlled music-game “Sync-In-Team” is presented, in which interface evaluation, presence, game enjoyment and goal assessment are the pivotal topics. In the eighth chapter, two usability studies are considered, that were conducted on prototype systems/interfaces, namely a heuristic evaluation of the “Virtual String” and a usability metrics evaluation on the “Multi-Level Sonification Tool”. The findings of these two studies in conjunction with the exploratory studies performed in association with the interactive art pieces, finally gave rise to the “SoundField”-project, which is recounted in full throughout the ninth chapter. The integrated participatory design and evaluation method, presented in the conceptual model is fully applied over the course of the “SoundField”-project, in which technological opportunities and ecological validity and applicability are investigated through user- informed development of numerous use cases.
The third and last part of the thesis renders the final conclusions of this research project. The tenth chapter sets out with an epilogue in which a brief overview is given on how the state of the arts has evolved since the end of the project (as the research ended in 2012, but the research field has obviously moved on), and attempts to consolidate the implications of the research studies with some of the realities of the Flemish cultural- creative industries. Chapter eleven continues by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the conceptual model throughout the various stages of the project. Also, it comprises the evaluation of the hypotheses, how the assumptions that were made held up, and how the research questions eventually could be assessed. Finally, the twelfth and last chapter concludes with the most important findings of the project. Also, it discusses some of the implications on cultural production, artistic research policy and offers an outlook on future research beyond the scope of the “SoundField” project.
... In addition to reducing the number of parts, Freed is also driven by an interest in using recyclable materials, hence the interest in using conductive paper for the sensors. This is something I have also been interested in, after I developed the CheapStick together with Rodolphe Koehly at McGill University [Jensenius et al., 2005]. Besides being recyclable, conductive paper is a fascinating material for sensor design also because it opens for very flexible sensor sizes and shapes. ...
What is a musical instrument? What are the musical instruments of the future? This anthology presents thirty papers selected from the fifteen year long history of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME). NIME is a leading music technology conference, and an important venue for researchers and artists to present and discuss their explorations of musical instruments and technologies.
Each of the papers is followed by commentaries written by the original authors and by leading experts. The volume covers important developments in the field, including the earliest reports of instruments like the reacTable, Overtone Violin, Pebblebox, and Plank. There are also numerous papers presenting new development platforms and technologies, as well as critical reflections, theoretical analyses and artistic experiences.
The anthology is intended for newcomers who want to get an overview of recent advances in music technology. The historical traces, meta-discussions and reflections will also be of interest for longtime NIME participants. The book thus serves both as a survey of influential past work and as a starting point for new and exciting future developments.
... This plethora of input devices ranges from low-cost music controllers (Jensenius, Koehly & Wanderley, 2006) like sensors to be supplied to large groups of interactive participants at a reasonable cost (Feldmeier & Paradiso, 2007) over interfaces that constitute some form of hardware hacking for the purpose of electronic music creation and manipulation (Collins, 2009) of over-the-counter commercial sensor-enabled technologieslike Wiimotes (Kiefer, Collins, & Fitzpatrick, 2008a) to state-of-the-art custom-built wireless technologies (Kuyken et al., 2008) that can be used as musical controllers. This vast array of gesture-recognizing or feature-extracting devices are in turn used to enable various forms and degrees of interaction in multimedia art (Bongers, 2000). ...
Dit onderzoeksproject handelt over de gebruikerservaring van muzikale bemiddelingstechnologieën die aspecten benutten van lijfelijkheid. Meer specifiek worden problemen behandeld die bestaan rond het toepassingsgebied en het beleid aangaande nieuwe (artistieke) mediatoestellen in de culturele en creatieve sector, ten gevolge van de beperkte ergonomische kwaliteiten van de bemiddelaars die op heden nog steeds een vlotte ingebruikname bemoeilijken. Sedert de opkomst van nieuwe draadloze bemiddelaars en besturingstoestellen voor muzikale expressie is er een uitdrukkelijke wens van de creatieve sector en diverse onderzoekscentra om dergelijke technologie in verschillende deelgebieden van de culturele sector binnen te loodsen. Het aantal toepassingen en het gebruik ervan is in het laatste decennium dan ook exponentieel toegenomen; anderzijds hebben veel van de toepassingen ernstige gebruiksvriendelijkheidsproblemen, waardoor niet enkel de culturele sector maar ook veel cultuurparticipanten vaak een afwachtende, eerder terughoudende of zelfs negatieve positie innemen ten aanzien van de betreffende technologieën. Binnen een referentiekader van de systematische muziekwetenschap, eigent deze thesis zich daarom naast een sociologisch uitgangspunt, ook het perspectief van de ‘cultural studies’ toe. Daarenboven worden empirische benaderingswijzen en gebruikersonderzoeksmethodes ontleend aan het veld van de computerwetenschappen (meer specifiek, de studie van de mens-systeem-interactie). Deze interdisciplinaire strategie wordt aangenomen om in staat te zijn het hoofd te bieden aan de uitermate complexe natuur van digitale lijfelijke muziek-mediërende technologieën. Binnen de realiteit van de Vlaamse cultureel-creatieve industrie worden opportuniteiten, gelieerd aan lijfelijke muziekbemiddelingstoepassingen, geobserveerd en gecreëerd. Binnen deze methodologische puzzel wordt bekeken 1) “welke belanghebbenden verschillende vormen en gradaties van betrokkenheid, interactief potentieel en artistieke mogelijkheden veronderstellen”, 2) “hoe artistieke aspiraties, culturele veronderstellingen en operationele benodigdheden als noodzakelijk voor de gebruiker kunnen worden gedefinieerd”, 3) “hoe aan functionele, artistieke en esthetische vereisten tegemoet kan worden gekomen”, en 4) “hoe de kwaliteit van de interactie en de kwaliteit van de gebruikservaring bij deze toestellen kan worden gegarandeerd, gekwantificeerd, geëvalueerd en uiteindelijk verbeterd”. Binnen dit gelaagde probleem is het de uiteindelijke bedoeling om het toepassingsgebied van de besproken technologie vanuit een theoretisch en empirisch gefundeerde basis vast te stellen, en het gebruik ervan te verbreden en te verbeteren. Methodologisch wordt hiernaar gestreefd aan de hand van 1) toegepaste experimenten, 2) interviewtechnieken, 3) zelf-rapportering en survey-onderzoek, 4) ergonomie-onderzoek van bestaande bemiddelaars, en 5) methodieken ontleend aan de mens-systeem-interactie, toegespitst en aangepast aan lijfelijke muziekbemiddelings-technologieën. Binnen dit studiegebied worden concepten ontwikkeld en getest die verwant zijn aan bruikbaarheidsonderzoek, flow, presence, doelstellingsinschatting en vermaak. Deze worden binnen het referentiekader van de vigerende technologieën getest en onderzocht, zowel aan de hand van taak-gebaseerde als ervaringsgeoriënteerde heuristieken en meetinstrumenten. In het eerste deel van de thesis, dat drie eerste hoofdstukken behelst, wordt de algemene context gegeven. In het eerste hoofdstuk wordt een inleiding tot de onderwerpen gepresenteerd en worden de problemen die de ontwikkeling op heden domineren op een rij gezet. In het tweede hoofdstuk wordt een breder theoretisch kader geschetst van de concepten waarop de thesis steunt, namelijk 1) het paradigma van het lijfelijkheidsonderzoek en de implicaties ervan voor de muziekwetenschap, 2) een overzicht van de gangbare technologieën die gebruikt worden voor het maken van lijfelijke muziekbemiddelingstoepassingen 3) een overzicht van de voor musicologisch onderzoek beschikbare en toepasbare mens-computer-interactie en bruikbaarheids-methodologieën, 4) een introductie in gebruikersgebaseerde digitale ontwikkelingsprocedures, en 5) enkele inzichten betreffende de aardverschuivingen die digitalisering en e-cultuur in het cultureel-creatieve landschap teweegbrengen. Na de voorstelling van deze concepten, worden in het derde hoofdstuk 1) de voor deze thesis beschikbare methodologieën behandeld, worden 2) de uit de literatuur gehaalde ontwerprichtlijnen opgesomd, en wordt van daaruit 3) een conceptueel model opgebouwd dat in zijn volledigheid wordt ontplooid en toegepast in de bespreking van het “SoundField”-project (zie hoofdstuk 9). De daaropvolgende hoofdstukken, vervat in deel twee, geven een quasi-chronologisch gestructureerd overzicht van hoe de methodologische concepten stelselmatig werden toegepast doorheen een reeks van empirische casestudies, specifiek toegespitst op de exploratie van verschillende aspecten van de complexe status quaestionis. Het vierde hoofdstuk beschrijft een reeks applicatie-gebaseerde tests, die voornamelijk op de evaluatie van de gebruikte bemiddelaars focussen, illustreert de complexe relatie tussen bewegings-gebaseerde interfaces en zinvolle muzikale expressie en vormt een pleidooi voor een meer gebruikersgeoriënteerde ontwikkelingsprocedure. In het vijfde hoofdstuk wordt een vragenlijst van een surveyonderzoek besproken, genaamd “Wat beweeg(t) je”. De vragenlijst had meerdere doelstellingen en was gericht op het verwerven van een overzicht van de belangrijkste eigenschappen van de eindgebruikers van lijfelijke muziekbemiddelingstoepassingen. De vragen doelden voornamelijk op culturele achtergrond, muzikaal profiel en muzikale voorkeuren, opinies over lijfelijke interactie, kennis van en attitudes met betrekking tot nieuwe technologie en participatie in de digitale cultuur. In het zesde hoofdstuk worden twee kleinschalige etnografische studies gepresenteerd die samen met de voorstelling van twee interactieve kunstwerken, “Heart as an Ocean” & “Lament”, werden uitgevoerd. In deze studies werden interviews en vragenlijsten gebruikt om te peilen naar de perceptie van interactieve kunstwerken binnen de context waarin ze gepresenteerd worden. In het zevende hoofdstuk wordt de ontwikkeling van een collaboratief controleerbaar muziekspel uit de doeken gedaan en worden interface-vergelijking, presence, spelvermaak en doelstellingsinschatting als voornaamste thema's naar voor geschoven. In het achtste hoofdstuk worden twee bruikbaarheidsstudies voorgesteld die werden uitgevoerd op systeem-prototypes, namelijk een heuristische evaluatie van de “Virtuele Snaar” en een bruikbaarheidsanalyse van de “Multi-niveau Sonificatie Applicatie”. De bevindingen uit deze bruikbaarheidsstudies in combinatie met de exploratieve studies die de interactieve installatie-kunstwerken begeleidden, gaven aanleiding tot het op touw zetten van het “SoundField”-project, dat uit de doeken wordt gedaan in het negende hoofdstuk. Het volledig geïntegreerde participatieve ontwerp en de evaluatiemethode, die werd gepresenteerd in het conceptuele model, werd integraal gebruikt als basis voor de gehele duur van het “SoundField”-project, waarin technologische mogelijkheden aan ecologische validiteit en artistieke toepasbaarheid worden afgetoetst aan de hand van de gebruikers-gestuurde ontwikkeling van veelvuldige casestudies. Het derde en laatste deel van de thesis geeft de finale conclusies van het onderzoeksproject weer. Hoofdstuk tien begint met een korte epiloog over hoe de status quaestionis sinds het einde van het onderzoeksproject is geëvolueerd (gezien dat reeds in 2012 afliep, maar het onderzoeksveld sindsdien geenszins ongewijzigd is gebleven). Voorts worden pogingen ondernomen om de implicaties van de geschetste studies te consolideren met het cultureel-creatieve landschap in Vlaanderen. Het elfde hoofdstuk vervolgt het verhaal met een opsomming van de sterke en zwakke elementen van het conceptuele model doorheen de verschillende stadia van het onderzoek. In dit hoofdstuk worden ook de hypothesen opnieuw onder de loep genomen, wordt geëvalueerd hoe goed de gemaakte veronderstellingen overeind blijven, en hoe de onderzoeksvragen uiteindelijk dienen te worden beantwoord. In het twaalfde en laatste hoofdstuk, wordt tenslotte een overzicht gegeven van de belangrijkste conclusies, bevindingen en de implicaties voor cultuurproductie gegeven. Bovendien worden mogelijke beleidsaanbevelingen van deze soort artistiek onderzoek beschouwd, en wordt een blik geworpen op een bredere context van toekomstig artistiek onderzoek, maar voortbouwend op de verworvenheden van het “SoundField”-project.
... In a research project between EFPG in France and the department of Music Technology at McGill University in Canada, we have been studying conductive paper to be used as position and strain sensors. Our goal is to provide digital musical instrument designers with straightforward means to circumvent the limited offering of commercial sensors, which are restricted to a few technologies with predefined electrical characteristics, shapes and sizes [Jensenius, 2005]. Our goal is also to define the basis of possible applications of our sensors for advances in printing and media technology. ...
Pressure and position sensors are usual components of many electronic devices. They equip cars and planes for security and presence sensing, industrial automated systems and many other Human-Interface Devices for medicine and kinesiology robotics, video games, etc. We present alternative ways to develop our selves these sensors using a low cost material: conductive paper loaded with carbon black pigments. We show that such a paper can be easily used to develop position, pressure and flexion sensors and that it is a good basis to develop more refined sensors such as accelerometers or tilt sensors for shock sensing with smart packaging. We last compare a few trials to produce oneself this paper using conventional fibers such as TMP, chemical or recycled pulp using classic laboratory handsheet formers and mixing those with industrial carbon black loaded papers.
... One could easily see how these examples of gesture-controlled devices could be applied to the field of music. As a specific example, the applicability of game control technology to the gestural control of music has already been demonstrated in Jensenius et al. (2006a). Thus, the same technology can be applied to many industries. ...
... One application example of the use of paper FSRs is the CheapStick, developed by Alexander Jensenius and the authors [11]. It consists of a position sensors using videotape and a squared paper FSR with dimensions of several centimeters. ...
This paper presents alternative ways to develop efficient force and position ("touch") sensors for new musical interfaces. We have studied three basic types of conductive materials – complex, composite, and porous – and evaluated the possibilities of using each to develop inexpensive and reliable touch sensors. We have built several sensor prototypes with varying electrical characteristics, shapes and sizes, and have evaluated them in terms of their response to applied forces and positions. Our goal is to provide digital musical instrument designers with straightfoward means to circumvent the limited offering of commercial sensors, which are restricted to a few technologies with predefined electrical characteristics, shapes and sizes.
... One application example of the use of paper FSRs that demonstrates the low material costs required for building electronic controllers is the CheapStick (Jensenius, Koehly, and Wanderley 2005). It consists of position sensors using videotape and a paper FSR that is several centimeters square. ...
This article presents alternative ways to produce efficient custom force or pressure sensors using cellulose paper filled with carbon-black pigments. We have produced several prototypes of force sensors to observe and compare their response with applied forces with those of commercial sensors, as well as those of other conductive materials. Advantages of custom sensors are presented through the description of various examples of music controllers using several kinds of paper touch sensors with a large variety of size and shape. Our goal is to provide digital musical instrument designers with new strategies to circumvent the limited offering of commercial sensors, and to propose ways to exploit these concepts through a dedicated Web site.
... Arduino, CUI, Phidgets). We have also explored using home-built sensors [4], but they often wear out too easily, unfortunately. ...
We report on the Music Ball Project, a longterm, exploratory project focused on creating novel instruments/controllers with a spherical shape as the common denominator. Besides a simple and attractive geometrical shape, balls afford many different types of use, including play. This has made our music balls popular among widely different groups of people, from toddlers to seniors, including those that would not otherwise engage with a musical instrument. The paper summarises our experience of designing, constructing and using a number of music balls of various sizes and with different types of sound-producing elements.
... For the tacTiles system we use force sensitive resistors (FSRs) made out of paper. The technique was first presented by Koehly et al. [1] for use in low-cost music controllers [2]. Black art paper dyed with carbon particles conducts electricity and its resistance depends on the applied pressure. ...
In this paper we present a prototype of a spatially resolved tactile surface that can serve as an 'artificial skin' to extend the perceptual capabilities of furniture or other artifacts in environments such as the floor or wall. The surface material is based on paper and flexible circuit board material, so that tacTiles – elements of this type – can be applied to various contexts. As an interactive application, we present a real-time sonification of interaction patterns with the tacTile doormat, allowing for instance to perceive how someone leaves or enters a room, or how the body weight is distributed.
... Similar to Koehly et al. [12] paper based force sensitive resistors (FSRs) made out of paper are used. The technique was first presented by Jensenius et al. [13] for use in low-cost music controllers. Black art paper dyed with carbon particles conducts electricity and its resistance depends on the applied pressure. ...
The paper presents a multi-modal approach to tightly close the in-teraction loop between a human user and any tool in operation. Every activity of a human being generates multi-modal feedback, more or less related to the eyes (visual), the skin (sensory), the nose (olfactory) and the ears (auditive). Here we show the useful augmentation or complete creation of a nonexistent or less avail-able feedback. As an example the performance of drilling tasks, line drawing tasks, or the complex task of bowing a violin can be considered. Some new multimodal human computer interaction technologies based on sensors and embedded systems are shown and described in this paper.
... To get its own custom sensors, it is worth spending some handwork time: this will make one save money and improve the quality and originality of the interfaces such as the one ofFigure 11 [5]. These interfaces can even be granted an environmental-friendly label as one can use only recycled materials to produce them. ...
This paper presents the development of novel "home-made" touch sensors using conductive pigments and various substrate materials. We show that it is possible to build one's own position, pressure and bend sensors with various electrical characteristics, sizes and shapes, and this for a very competitive price. We give examples and provide results from experimental tests of such developments.
... As underlined by Jensenius et. al [6], such a game controller has the advantages of being cheap and having analog inputs which comply to the 0-5 volt sensor outputs. Besides connecting the sensor outputs on the motherboard is easy and the device uses the Human Interface Device driver supported in Max/MSP 1 , which allows to make a fast, simple and low-cost interface sensor out of the game controller. ...
Spatialization of sound sources in depth allows a hierarchical display of multiple audio streams and therefore may be an efficient tool for developing novel auditory interfaces. In this paper we present an audio-haptic interface for audio browsing based on rendering distance cues for ordering sound sources in depth. The haptic interface includes a linear position tactile sensor made by conductive material. The touch position on the ribbon is mapped onto the listening position on a rectangular virtual membrane, modeled by a bidimensional Digital Waveguide Mesh and providing distance cues of four equally spaced sound sources. Furthermore a knob of a MIDI controller controls the position of the mesh along the playlist, which allows to browse the whole set of files. Subjects involved in a user study found the interface intuitive and entertaining. In particular the interaction with the stripe was highly appreciated.
... L'implementazione dell'interfacciaè mostrata nella figura 1. Il sensore ritorna un valore corrispondente alla posizione del tocco lungo il nastro. Un normale gamepad, collegato alla porta USB del computer, viene impiegato come scheda di acquisizione delle variazioni rilevate dal trasduttore: questi controller hanno il particolare vantaggio di essere piuttosto economici e di essere corredati di ingressi analogici compatibili con il segnale elettrico in uscita del sensore (0-5 volt) [8]. I valori in ingresso relativi alla posizione del tocco sono quindi letti in Max/MSP 2 mediante l'oggetto hi (human interface) e riscalati in numeri decimali nel range 0-255. ...
La spazializzazione in profondità di sorgenti sonore consente di effettuare una esposizione gerarchica di molteplici stream audio e potrebbe pertanto costituire uno strumento efficace nello sviluppo di nuove interfacce uditive. In questo lavoro viene presentata una interfaccia audio-aptica per una navigazione uditiva basata sulla resa acustica della distanzaal fine di ordinare le sorgenti sonore in profondità. L’interfaccia aptica è composta da un nastro conduttivo, in grado di rilevare la posizione del tocco lungo di esso. La posizione sul nastro viene mappata sul punto di ascolto di uno spazio virtuale rettangolare, modellato secondo una Digital Waveguide Mesh, in modo da fornire delle misure di distanza di cinque sorgenti sonore equispaziate. In particolare, il modello enfatizza l’effetto di riverberazione, uno degli indizi acustici
principali della distanza. In una cornice ecologica di interazione, la sintesi e riverberazione dei suoni utilizzano modelli fisici. I contenuti sonori sono organizzati per analogia con l’esercitazione di Basic Design dell’Antiprimadonna.
The Fingerphone, a reworking of the Stylophone in conductive paper, is presented as an example of new design approaches for sustainability and playability of electronic musical instruments.
www.robotcowboy.com “Why, he’s a reg’lar musicker! ” said Button-Bright. “What’s a musicker? ” asked Dorothy. “Him! ” said the boy. Hearing this, the fat man sat up a little stiffer than before, as if he had received a compliment, and still came the sounds: Tiddle-widdle-iddle, oom pom-pom, Oom pom-pom, oom— “Stop it! ” cried the shaggy man, earnestly. “Stop that dreadful noise.” The fat man looked at him sadly and began his reply. When he spoke the music changed and the words seemed to accompany the notes. He said — or rather sang: It isn’t a noise that you hear, But Music, harmonic and clear. My breath makes me play
We present an interaction tool based on rendering distance cues for ordering sound sources in depth. The user interface consists
of a linear position tactile sensor made by conductive material. The touch position is mapped onto the listening position
on a rectangular virtual membrane, modeled by a bidimensional Digital Waveguide Mesh and providing distance cues. Spatialization
of sound sources in depth allows a hierarchical display of multiple audio streams, as in auditory menus. Besides, the similar
geometries of the haptic interface and the virtual auditory environment allow a direct mapping between the touch position
and the listening position, providing an intuitive and continuous interaction tool for auditory navigation.
This thesis deals with the study of performer-instrument interaction during the performance of novel digital musical instruments (DMIs). Unlike acoustic instruments, digital musical instruments have no coupling between the sound generation system and the physical interface with which the performer interacts. As a result of this, such instruments also lack the direct physical feedback to the performer which is present in an acoustic instrument. In fact in contrast to acoustic musical instruments, haptic and vibrotactile feedback is generally not present in a DMI contributing to a poor feel for the instrument. The main goal of this thesis is to propose ways to improve the overall feel of digital musical instruments through the study and design of its physical interface: the instrument body, sensors and feedback actuators. It includes a detailed study of the existing theory and practice of the design on physical interfaces for digital musical instruments, including a survey of 266 existing DMIs presented since the inception of the NIME conference. From this, a number of differences become apparent between the existing theory and practice, particularly in the areas of sensors and feedback. The research in this thesis then addresses these differences. It includes a series of experiments on the optimal choice of sensors for a digital musical instrument. This is followed by research into the provision of vibrotactile feedback in a digital musical instrument, including the choice of actuator, modification of actuator frequency response, and the effects of response modification on human vibrotactile frequency discrimination. Following this, a number of new digital musical instruments are presented, which were created during the course of this work. This includes an instrument designed specifically to follow the results of research in this thesis and also instruments designed as part of larger collaborative projects involving engineers, composers and performers. From the results obtained in this work, it is shown that a careful design of both the sensor and actuator aspects of the physical interface of a DMI can lead to an instrument which is more engaging and entertaining to play, offering an improved feel over that which is present in many digital musical instruments. Cette thèse porte sur l'étude de l'interaction ayant lieu, en situation de jeu,entre un(e) instrumentiste et un instrument musical numérique (IMN).A l'inverse des instruments acoustiques traditionnels, il n'existe aucun couplageentre le dispositif de production du son et l'interface sur laquelle agit l'instrumentistedans le cas des IMN. L'une des implications de cette observation est que cesinstruments ne procurent pas la rétroaction tactile normalement présente dans lesinstruments de musique traditionels. Par conséquent, les IMN sont souvent perçuspar leurs interprètes comme manquant d'âme, de personnalité.Le but de ce travail de thèse est d'avancer quelques solutions permettant d'insuer un peu plus âme à un instrument musical numérique. Le point focal de larecherche étant l'étude et la conception de l'interface physique (corps de l'instrument,capteurs et dispositifs de rétroaction utilisés) d'un tel instrument.Ce mémoire présente, en premier lieu, une étude détaillée de la théorie et de lapratique actuelles dans le domaine de la conception d'interfaces physiques pour lesIMN. L'inventaire des 266 instruments recensés depuis la création de la conférenceNIME constitue l'un des points majeurs de cette partie du travail. En effet, ce tour d'horizon permet de faire ressortir les incohérences entre théorie et pratique. Cesdifférences sont particulièrement frappantes en ce qui concerne les capteurs et lesdispositifs de rétroaction.Le travail de recherche de cette thèse a donc pour objectif de mieux comprendrecomment réduire ces incohérences. Des expériences portant sur le choix optimaldes capteurs à utiliser dans un IMN ont donc été menées. Différents dispositifs derétroaction vibrotactile ont aussi été étudiés en regardant d'abord quels actuateursutiliser, et en évaluant les effets de la modication de leur réponse en fréquencesur la discrimination fréquentielle de stimuli vibrotactiles chez des sujets humains.Des exemples d'applications pratiques de ces recherches sont ensuite détaillés.En effet, plusieurs IMN ont été construits lors de cette thèse : des dispositifs conçusdans le cadre des expérienes pré-citées ainsi que d'autres instruments s'inscrivantdans le cadre de projets collectifs regroupant des ingénieurs, des compositeurs etdes instrumentistes.A l'issue de ce travail, il apparaît clairement qu'une attention particulière portéeau choix des capteurs et des actuateurs de rétroaction utilisés lors de la conceptionde l'interface peut améliorer de façon considérable la perception que les interprètesont d'un instrument de musique numérique. Effectivement, les musicien(ne)s ayantjoué des instruments conçus lors de cette thèse ont généralement trouvé l'expérienceludique et agéable, pouvant mieux percevoir la personnalité des instruments.
This paper reports our recent developments on sensor acquisition systems, taking advantage of computer network technology. We present a versatile hardware system which can be connected to wireless modules, Analog to Digital Converters, and enables Ethernet communication. We are planning to make freely available the design of this architecture. We describe also several approaches we tested for wireless communication. Such technology developments are currently used in our newly formed Performance Arts Technology Group.
In this paper we discuss the development of 'Z-Tiles' in conjunction with a sister project, 'Self-Organising Sensors' (SOS). Combined, these projects will result in a pressure sensitive, self-organising, interactive sensor design that can be embedded into appropriate environments. The shared objective of these projects is to further our understanding of movement and gesture. In this paper, we discuss the design and behaviour of a force sensing material, the physical design of the sensor encasement and the software that allows the sensors to communicate and self-organise. The issues of modularity and portability are also discussed in this paper, while consideration has also been given to the conceptualisation and development of a variety of prototypes; ranging from entertainment to potential therapeutic applications. Essentially, the Z-tiles sensor can be used in control surfaces where force, weight distribution or motion is used as control parameters.
A sensor system is described for instrumenting a pair of dancing shoes in order to capture many expressive degrees of freedom and use them to drive music synthesizers and computer graphics in a real-time performance. Dynamic pressure is measured at three points in the shoe sole, as are the bend of the sole, pitch and yaw shoe angles, and translational shoe positions. Data will be transmit across a 19.2 kbaud wireless link, enabling updates at 10 msec intervals
2. Sensors and Electronics Two piezoelectric pads ("1" & "2" in Fig. 1) made from flat, laminated sheets of PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) polymer [4] are placed at the front of the shoe sole, below the regions covered by the big and small toes. One PVDF pad ("3" in Fig. 1) is placed at the heel. PVDF has already been inserted into a set of shoes to measure footfalls for wearable computing applications [5]; the signals are several volts into a high-impedance ( 10 MegOhm) load, thus require only simple buffering before digitization. The two front pads will measure differential toe pressure, while the back pad will measure dynamic pressure at the heel. Although PVDF does not provide a steady-state force measurement, a dancer is usually in motion, and the most important performance features arise from dynamics. A sensor system is described for instrumenting a pair of dancing shoes in order to capture many expressive degrees of freedom and use them to drive music synthesizers and compute...
measured together with upper-body and hand motion. This data would be used to create a truly immersive, tetherless musical environment, where any kind of body motion would be directly and immediately converted into expressive sound. An interactive environment has been developed that uses a pair of Doppler radars to measure upper-body kinematics (velocity, direction of motion, amount of motion) and a grid of piezoelectric wires hidden under a 6 x 10 foot carpet to monitor dynamic foot position and pressure. This system has been used in an audio installation, where users launch and modify complex musical sounds and sequences as they wander about the carpet. This paper describes the floor and radar systems, quantifies their performance, and outlines the musical application. This system has indeed been constructed, and although it does not currently tour with the Brain Opera, it has been used in several musical installations. The sensor systems used to measure the feet and upper body are described below, as is the interactive musical application created to demonstrate this environment. Keywords Doppler radar, PVDF, piezoelectrics, immersive environment, musical interfaces, foot sensing
SensorBox is a low cost, low latency, high-resolution interface for obtaining gestural data from sensors for use in realtime with a computer-based interactive system. We discuss its implementation, benefits, current limitations, and compare it with several popular interfaces for gestural data acquisition.
The create usb interface - where art meets electronic
- D Overholt
Junxion (computer program)
- Steim
Steim. Junxion (computer program). http://www.steim.org/steim/junxion.html,
8. March 2005.