Sonification of Brain and Body Signals in Collaborative Tasks Using a Tabletop Musical Interface

Abstract

Physiological Computing has been applied in different disciplines, and is becoming popular and widespread in Human-Computer Interaction, due to device miniaturization and improvements in real- time processing. However, most of the studies on physiology- based interfaces focus on single-user systems, while their use in Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) is still emerging. The present work explores how sonification of human brain and body signals can enhance user experience in collaborative mu- sic composition. For this task, a novel multimodal interactive sys- tem is built using a musical tabletop interface (Reactable) and a hybrid Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). The described system al- lows performers to generate and control sounds using their own or their fellow team member{\textquoteright}s physiology. Recently, we assessed this physiology-based collaboration system in a pilot experiment. Discussion on the results and future work on new sonifications will be accompanied by practical demonstration during the conference.