^muzicode$: composing and performing musical codes

We present muzicodes, an approach to incorporating machine-readable ‘codes’ into music that allows the performer and/or composer to flexibly define what constitutes a code, and to perform around it. These codes can then act as triggers, for example to control an accompaniment or visuals during a performance. The codes can form an integral part of the music (composition and/or performance), and may be more or less obviously present. This creates a rich space of playful interaction with a system that recognises and responds to the codes. Our proof of concept implementation works with audio or MIDI as input. Muzicodes are represented textually and regular expressions are used to flexibly define them. We present two contrasting demonstration applications and summarise the findings from two workshops with potential users which highlight opportunities and challenges, especially in relation to specifying and matching codes and playing and performing with the system

Large scale collaborative virtual environments

[N.B. Pagination of eThesis differs from printed thesis. The content is identical.] This thesis is concerned with the theory, design, realisation and evaluation of large-scale collaborative virtual environments. These are 3D audio-graphical computer generated environments which actively support collaboration between potentially large numbers of distributed users. The approach taken in this thesis reflects both the sociology of interpersonal communication and the management of communication in distributed systems. The first part of this thesis presents and evaluates MASSIVE-1, a virtual reality tele-conferencing system which implements the spatial model of interaction of Benford and Fahlén. The evaluation of MASSIVE-1 has two components: a user-oriented evaluation of the system’s facilities and the underlying awareness model; and a network-oriented evaluation and modelling of the communication requirements of the system with varying numbers of users. This thesis proposes the “third party object” concept as an extension to the spatial model of interaction. Third party objects can be used to represent the influence of context or environment on interaction and awareness, for example, the effects of boundaries, rooms and crowds. Third party objects can also be used to introduce and manage dynamic aggregates or abstractions within the environments (for example abstract overviews of distant crowds of participants). The third party object concept is prototyped in a second system, MASSIVE-2. MASSIVE-2 is also evaluated in two stages. The first is a user-oriented reflection on the capabilities and effectiveness of the third party concept as realised in the system. The second stage of the evaluation develops a predictive model of total and per-participant network bandwidth requirements for systems of this kind. This is used to analyse a number of design decisions relating to this type of system, including the use of multicasting and the form of communication management adopted

Learning from the experts: enabling and studying DIY development of location-based visitor experiences

In this paper we show how -- with the aid of enabling technology -- creative Location Based Experiences can be developed for visitors by non-technical professionals from the cultural heritage sector. We look at how these "Place Experts" approach and adopt web technologies to create and publish experiences including the roles they take on, the processes they adopt, and the way they appropriate the technology. We describe our short and long-term research engagements with the cultural heritage sector over the last three years and introduce Wander Anywhere, the website developed to enable this research. We find that place experts typically follow a four stage process in their engagement with location-based experiences, moving from comprehension to translation, development and finally approval. We suggest implications for the processes and technologies that might be employed by others seeking to support a similar type of engagement

Doing it for themselves: the practices of amateur musicians and DIY music networks in a digital age

A fast expanding network of DIY music communities in the UK see digital technologies transforming ways in which part-time amateur musicians are able to collabo- rate creatively and form alliances, producing unique per- formance techniques, experimenting with genre conven- tions and reaching out to an international audience. With a DIY approach, creative autonomy and control is re- tained and celebrated in shared non-commercial spaces run by the artists themselves. A rich ethnographic study seeks to explore these shared ideologies and practices

Considering musical structure in location-based experiences

Locative music experiences are often non-linear and as such the final structure of the music heard is guided by the movements of the user. We note an absence of principles regarding how composers should approach the structuring of such locative soundtracks. For instance, how does one compose for a non-linear soundtrack using linear, pre-composed placed sounds, where fixed musical time is placed into the indeterminate time of the user’s experience? Furthermore, how does one create a soundtrack that is suitable for the location, but also functions as a coherent musical structure? We explore these questions by analyzing an existing ‘placed sound’ work from a traditional music theory perspective and in doing so reveal some structural principals from ‘fixed’ musical forms can also support the composition of contemporary locative music experiences

Considering musical structure in location-based experiences

Locative music experiences are often non-linear and as such the final structure of the music heard is guided by the movements of the user. We note an absence of principles regarding how composers should approach the structuring of such locative soundtracks. For instance, how does one compose for a non-linear soundtrack using linear, pre-composed placed sounds, where fixed musical time is placed into the indeterminate time of the user’s experience? Furthermore, how does one create a soundtrack that is suitable for the location, but also functions as a coherent musical structure? We explore these questions by analyzing an existing ‘placed sound’ work from a traditional music theory perspective and in doing so reveal some structural principals from ‘fixed’ musical forms can also support the composition of contemporary locative music experiences

Large scale collaborative virtual environments

[N.B. Pagination of eThesis differs from printed thesis. The content is identical.] This thesis is concerned with the theory, design, realisation and evaluation of large-scale collaborative virtual environments. These are 3D audio-graphical computer generated environments which actively support collaboration between potentially large numbers of distributed users. The approach taken in this thesis reflects both the sociology of interpersonal communication and the management of communication in distributed systems. The first part of this thesis presents and evaluates MASSIVE-1, a virtual reality tele-conferencing system which implements the spatial model of interaction of Benford and Fahlén. The evaluation of MASSIVE-1 has two components: a user-oriented evaluation of the system’s facilities and the underlying awareness model; and a network-oriented evaluation and modelling of the communication requirements of the system with varying numbers of users. This thesis proposes the “third party object” concept as an extension to the spatial model of interaction. Third party objects can be used to represent the influence of context or environment on interaction and awareness, for example, the effects of boundaries, rooms and crowds. Third party objects can also be used to introduce and manage dynamic aggregates or abstractions within the environments (for example abstract overviews of distant crowds of participants). The third party object concept is prototyped in a second system, MASSIVE-2. MASSIVE-2 is also evaluated in two stages. The first is a user-oriented reflection on the capabilities and effectiveness of the third party concept as realised in the system. The second stage of the evaluation develops a predictive model of total and per-participant network bandwidth requirements for systems of this kind. This is used to analyse a number of design decisions relating to this type of system, including the use of multicasting and the form of communication management adopted

Materialising contexts: virtual soundscapes for real-world exploration

© 2020, The Author(s). This article presents the results of a study based on a group of participants’ interactions with an experimental sound installation at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, UK. The installation used audio augmented reality to attach virtual sound sources to a vintage radio receiver from the museum’s collection, with a view to understanding the potentials of this technology for promoting exploration and engagement within museums and galleries. We employ a practice-based design ethnography, including a thematic analysis of our participants’ interactions with spatialised interactive audio, and present an identified sequence of interactional phases. We discuss how audio augmented artefacts can communicate and engage visitors beyond their traditional confines of line-of-sight, and how visitors can be drawn to engage further, beyond the realm of their original encounter. Finally, we provide evidence of how contextualised and embodied interactions, along with authentic audio reproduction, evoked personal memories associated with our museum artefact, and how this can promote interest in the acquisition of declarative knowledge. Additionally, through the adoption of a functional and theoretical aura-based model, we present ways in which this could be achieved, and, overall, we demonstrate a material object’s potential role as an interface for engaging users with, and contextualising, immaterial digital audio archival content

Learning 21st century science in context with mobile technologies

The paper describes a project to support personal inquiry learning with handheld and desktop technology between formal and informal settings. It presents a trial of the technology and learning across a school classroom, sports hall, and library. The main aim of the study was to incorporate inquiry learning activities within an extended school science environment in order to investigate opportunities for technological mediations and to extract initial recommendations for the design of mobile technology to link inquiry learning across different contexts. A critical incident analysis was carried out to identify learning breakdowns and breakthroughs that led to design implications. The main findings are the opportunities that a combination of mobile and fixed technology bring to: manage the formation of groups, display live visualisations of student and teacher data on a shared screen to facilitate motivation and personal relevance, incorporate broader technical support, provide context-specific guidance on the sequence, reasons and aims of learning activities, offer opportunities to micro-sites for reflection and learning in the field, to explicitly support appropriation of data within inquiry and show the relation between specific activities and the general inquiry process