Interaction and the Art of User-Centered Digital Musical Instrument Design

This thesis documents the formulation of a research-based practice in multimedia art, technology and digital musical instrument design. The primary goal of my research was to investigate the principles and methodologies involved in the structural design of new interactive digital musical instruments aimed at performance by members of the general public, and to identify ways that the design process could be optimized to increase user adoption of these new instruments. The research was performed over three years and moved between studies at the University of Maine, internships in New York, and specialized research at the Input Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory at McGill University. My work is presented in two sections. The first covers early studies in user interaction and exploratory works in web and visual design, sound art, installation, and music performance. While not specifically tied to the research topic of user adoption of digital musical instruments, this work serves as the conceptual and technical background for the dedicated work to follow. The second section is dedicated to focused research on digital musical instrument design through two major projects carried out as a Graduate Research Trainee at McGill University. The first was the design and prototype of the Noisebox, a new digital musical instrument. The purpose of this project was to learn the various stages of instrument design through practical application. A working prototype has been presented and tested, and a second version is currently being built. The second project was a user study that surveyed musicians about digital musical instrument use. It asked questions about background, instrument choice, music styles played, and experiences with and attitudes towards new digital musical instruments. Based on the results of the two research projects, a model of digital musical instrument design is proposed that adopts a user-centered focus, soliciting user input and feedback throughout the design process from conception to final testing. This approach aims to narrow the gap between conceptual design of new instruments and technologies and the actual musicians who would use them

Musical Gesture through the Human Computer Interface: An Investigation using Information Theory

This study applies information theory to investigate human ability to communicate using continuous control sensors with a particular focus on informing the design of digital musical instruments. There is an active practice of building and evaluating such instruments, for instance, in the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference community. The fidelity of the instruments can depend on the included sensors, and although much anecdotal evidence and craft experience informs the use of these sensors, relatively little is known about the ability of humans to control them accurately. This dissertation addresses this issue and related concerns, including continuous control performance in increasing degrees-of-freedom, pursuit tracking in comparison with pointing, and the estimations of musical interface designers and researchers of human performance with continuous control sensors. The methodology used models the human-computer system as an information channel while applying concepts from information theory to performance data collected in studies of human subjects using sensing devices. These studies not only add to knowledge about human abilities, but they also inform on issues in musical mappings, ergonomics, and usability

The Photosynthesiser - A methodology for mapping environmental conditions, pivotal to the speed of photosynthesis in plants, through sonification.

Traditionally, the close inspection of data requires visual guidance in the form of displays depicting numeric or graphical representations over time. Sonification offers a way to convey this data through auditory means, relinquishing the need for constant display monitoring. To enable horticulturists to continue to move and work around their environment a proposed sonification mapping system for the key environmental conditions, vital for optimum levels of photosynthesis, has been developed. The outcome of this research was to provide a monitoring system that was both musical and meaningful with regards to data fluctuations and most importantly, could be interpreted by a wide demographic of listeners. A literature review provides an underpinning to both the scientific and artistic merits of sonification whilst a practice-based model was used to develop appropriate musical timbres, offering a natural instrumentation through physical modelling synthesis. Key questions around which musical factors can be used to trigger specific emotions and which of these emotions do we associate with an environment that offers a higher rate or low rate of photosynthesis for plants are explored. Through literary research as well as the deployment and analysis of surveys, a list of musical parameters was identified and a mapping framework designed. To analyse the success of the design, an audio installation was constructed within grounds at the Eden Project. The environmental data of both biomes, tropical and Mediterranean, were sonified into two musical streams and visitors surveyed through quantitative and qualitative methods in an experiment to see if they could correctly associate the music to the biome. The results provided 90% accuracy in the correct identification. It is theorised through this research that the mapping framework designed can be used in the sonification of climate conditions and communicate key traits within each environment

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2007 Fall

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Fall 2007

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2013 Summer

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Summer 2013

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2013 Summer

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Summer 2013

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2007 Winter

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Winter 2007

The feet in human--computer interaction: a survey of foot-based interaction

Foot-operated computer interfaces have been studied since the inception of human--computer interaction. Thanks to the miniaturisation and decreasing cost of sensing technology, there is an increasing interest exploring this alternative input modality, but no comprehensive overview of its research landscape. In this survey, we review the literature on interfaces operated by the lower limbs. We investigate the characteristics of users and how they affect the design of such interfaces. Next, we describe and analyse foot-based research prototypes and commercial systems in how they capture input and provide feedback. We then analyse the interactions between users and systems from the perspective of the actions performed in these interactions. Finally, we discuss our findings and use them to identify open questions and directions for future research

Undergraduate and Graduate Course Descriptions, 2008 Summer

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Summer 2008