Supporting rhythm activities of deaf children using music-sensory-substitution systems

Benjamin Petry, Thavishi Illandara, Don Samitha Elvitigala, Suranga Nanayakkara

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rhythm is the first musical concept deaf people learn in music classes. However, hearing loss limits the amount of information that allows a deaf person to evaluate his or her performance and stay in sync with other musicians. In this paper, we investigated how a visual and vibrotactile music-sensorysubstitution device, MuSS-Bits++, affects rhythm discrimination, reproduction, and expressivity of deaf people. We conducted a controlled study with 11 deaf children and found that most participants felt more confident wearing the device in vibration mode even when it did not objectively improve their accuracy. Furthermore, we studied how MuSS-Bits++ can be used in music classes at deaf schools and what challenges and opportunities arise in such a setting. Based on these studies, we discuss insights and future directions that support the design and development of music-sensory-substitution systems for music making.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
EditorsAnind Dey, Ed Cutrell, m.c. shraefel
Place of PublicationNew York NY USA
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781450356206, 9781450356213
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Externally publishedYes
EventInternational Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2018 - Palais des Congrès de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
Duration: 21 Apr 201826 Apr 2018
Conference number: 36th
https://chi2018.acm.org/
https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3173574 (Proceedings)

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2018
Abbreviated titleCHI 2018
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period21/04/1826/04/18
Internet address

Keywords

  • Assistive technology
  • Deaf
  • Design
  • Music
  • Sensory substitution

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