Vibrotactile feedback for an open air music controller

Abstract

In this paper we describe an approach for providing vibrotactile feedback for digital musical instruments (DMIs) that are controlled with open air hand motion. The hand motion was captured with infrared marker based motion capture technology. The marker position data was mapped to the control parameters of both sound and vibrotactile signal synthesis. Vibrotactile feedback was provided to the fingertips of the performer by sending the synthesized signals to voice coils actuators that were embedded in a glove. Vibrotactile strategies were developed for two DMI prototypes that focus on different ways of controlling musical sound. Results of an informal evaluation indicate that the synthesized vibrotactile stimuli can provide useful feedback on how the performer is playing the instrument, as well as enhancing the experience of playing the given DMIs.