INSIDE – Intuitive Sonic Interaction Design for Education and Entertainment

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C08.0028

Key words (English)

Tangible interfaces; human computer interaction; computer vision; musical interfaces; interactive music systems; interaction design; sound synthesis; sound processing; pedagogy

Research programs (English)

COST-Action IC0601 - Sonic Interaction Design (SID)

Short description (English)

The objective of the project is to offer the possibility for children and adults without previous musical experience to create sounds, invent their own musical instruments and make music on a very intuitive and playful manner. To achieve this goal, the project will develop a concept of tangible interaction using pictograms printed on cards that can be placed on any conventional surface, like a table. In addition, the cards and the table will be sensitive to touch as well, allowing for extended interactive possibilities. The cards will have meaningful drawings, pictures and icons printed on them, representing various aspects and functions related to sound and music, such as sound sources (sounds of nature, animals, musical instruments, etc), sound modifiers (echo, reverb, time stretching, etc.), mixers, and so on. Thanks to multi-touch sensing, a card representing a sound source could be played simply by touching it. Or a larger card representing a keyboard could be used to play a melody or even chords by touching the printed keys. While building on existing musical concepts (ex. keyboard, drum kit, etc) the project will explore new and intuitive ways of playing sounds, for instance by dragging fingers on the table and using parameters such as speed, acceleration, height, and so on to control and shape the sounds.

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise: Conservatoire de Musique de Genève Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (HEM-GE)

Partners and International Organizations (English)

AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, IE, IL, IS, IT, NL, NO, PT, SE, UK

Abstract (English)

The objective of the project is to offer the possibility for children and adults without previous musical experience to create sounds, invent their own musical instruments and make music on a very intuitive and playful manner. To achieve this goal, the project will develop a concept of tangible interaction using pictograms printed on cards that can be placed on any conventional surface, like a table. In addition, the cards and the table will be sensitive to touch as well, allowing for extended interactive possibilities. The cards will have meaningful drawings, pictures and icons printed on them, representing various aspects and functions related to sound and music, such as sound sources (sounds of nature, animals, musical instruments, etc), sound modifiers (echo, reverb, time stretching, etc.), mixers, and so on. Thanks to multi-touch sensing, a card representing a sound source could be played simply by touching it. Or a larger card representing a keyboard could be used to play a melody or even chords by touching the printed keys. While building on existing musical concepts (ex. key-board, drum kit, etc) the project will explore new and intuitive ways of playing sounds, for instance by dragging fingers on the table and using parameters such as speed, acceleration, height, and so on to control and shape the sounds.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C08.0028