Let's imagine for a moment a kind of musical instrument in wich sound is controlled by interacting with a malleable and sensitive bidimensional visual substance that can change following the musician's gestures and will.
Multitouch and painterly together
The combination of the capabilities of a multitouch technology as in [1] and in [2] with the paradigm of painterly interface for musical creation as described by Levin in [3] allows for the creation of such kind of new musical instrument in wich gesture, image and sound are tightly related in an intuitive way. In this kind of tactile audio-visual system the informative loop between the user and the machine is closed in an optimal way creating an enactive interface [4]. Moreover because of its multitouch nature this instrument can also easily be used in a bimanual and cooperative way.
Enactive interface
Bimanual and cooperative use
Beside the investigation of possible painterly interfaces for musical creation additional approaches are possible. In example we can think about painterly interfaces for sound control and modification as in the case of live electronics scenarios [5][6]. We can also think about more traditional interfaces relying on the representation of familiar instruments such as virtual keyboards or percussion sets, eventually in their hyperinstrument [7] versions.
The exploration in the field of multitouch interfaces, expecially for musical use, is still relatively young and open for innovations. The AuVi-Touch project will aim to investigate and experiment this new open universe.
Bibliography
[1] Han, J. Y. 2005. Low-Cost Multi-Touch Sensing through Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (18th ACM Symposium on UI Software and Technology)
[2] Smith, J. D. et al. 2007. Low-Cost Malleable Surfaces with Multi-Touch Pressure Sensitivity (IEEE TABLETOP'07)
[3] Levin, G. 2000. Painterly Interfaces for Audiovisual Performance (MIT MediaLab thesis)
[4] Enactive network Home page
[5] Bosi, M. Bozzolan M. 2007. Sistemi multimodali per il controllo e la spazializzazione del Suono (GARR'07 Conference, Rome)
[6] Bosi, M. Bozzolan M. 2007. Sistemi multimodali per il controllo e la spazializzazione del Suono (presentation held at Politecnico di Milano)
[7] Hyperinstruments Home Page (MIT)
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