Haptics for Musical Rhythm
Different sensory modalities have different strengths and weaknesses for the development of skills related to rhythm. For example, vision has low temporal resolution and performs poorly for tracking rhythms in real time, whereas hearing is highly accurate. However, in the case of multi-limbed rhythms, neither hearing nor sight are particularly well suited to communicating exactly which limb does what and when, or how the limbs coordinate. By contrast, haptics can work especially well in this area, by applying haptic signals independently to each limb. This project involves the design , implementation, and evaluations of a range of applications of the Haptic Bracelets, which are computer-controlled Wi-Fi vibrotactile devices, one attached to each wrist and ankle. Haptic pulses are used to guide users in playing rhythmic patterns that require multi-limb co-ordination. One immediate aim of the system is to support the development of practical rhythm skills and multi-limb coordination. A longer term goal is to aid the development of a wider range of fundamental rhythm skills including recognizing, identifying, memorizing, retaining, analyzing, reproducing, coordinating, modifying and creating rhythms - particularly multi-stream (i.e. polyphonic) rhythmic sequences.
Publications:
Holland, Simon, Bouwer, Anders, Hödl, Oliver, Haptics for the development of fundamental rhythm skills, including multi-limb coordination
