Input devices and mapping techniques for the intuitive control of composition and editing for digital music

This paper describes the work so far on my DPhil research, which falls under the banner of composition and editing interfaces for digital musicians. Three new input devices are presented that share the aim of providing a fluid, intuitive and detailed method of control for musicians. The first system, named Phalanger, uses computer vision algorithms to track hand movement, and uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to interpret the tracking data. The other two are graspable interfaces that use arrays of sensors and AI techniques to interpret fine grained hand manipulation. Phalanger is currently undergoing evaluation using a longitudinal technique based on Gaver’s cultural probe. The next stage in the project is to focus on refining the hardware and mapping techniques and carry out further evaluations.