This paper presents a systematic literature review of music technology tailored for blind and low vision (BLV) individuals.Music activities can be particularly beneficial for BLV people.However, a systematic approach to organizing knowledge on designing accessible technology for BLV people has yet to be attempted.We categorize the existing studies based on the type of technology and the extent of BLV people's involvement in the research.We identify six main categories of BLV people-oriented music technology and highlight four key trends in design goals.Based on these categories, we propose four general insights focusing on (1) spatial awareness, (2) access to information, (3) (non-verbal) communication, and (4) memory.The identified trends suggest that more empirical studies involving BLV people in real-world scenarios are needed to ensure that technological advancements can enhance musical experiences and social inclusion.This research proposes collaborative music technology and inclusive real-world testing with the target group as two key areas missing in current research.They serve as a foundational step in shifting the focus from "accessible technology" to "inclusive technology" for BLV individuals within the broader field of accessibility research.

Reverse movement is a hybrid ecosystemic installation that presents the authors' experimentation in Chinese calligraphy and electroacoustic feedback in a portable format. The work uses copper plates suspended in a handcrafted wooden cabinet as both the medium of writing and sound and relies on the principles of undoing for its interactive behavior: the act of spectatorship disrupts the sonic feedback loop, thus eliminating the crucial element of the ecosystem and the normal behavior resumes after the installation is left alone. The source text of the calligraphic inscription: a passage from Dao De Jing translated as “reversal is the movement of Dao” encompasses the physical, chemical and interactive processes at the core of this work.

Tactile perception is a crucial channel for education in individuals with blindness and low vision (BLV), and beadwork is a low-cost and widely adopted tool in their educational practices. In this paper, we aim to explore what the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) can learn from beadwork practices in relation to educational somatic experiences and tangible interaction. To understand how beadwork practices are enacted, we conducted in-class observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups with BLV students and teachers. Our results suggest that beadwork is an effective tool to foster personal development (e.g., mathematical and creativity skills) and social engagement (e.g., career development). Based on our findings, we offer insights into how beadwork can serve as a cost-effective material for HCI, particularly in the context of embodied cognition and soma design. Finally, we propose how state-of-the-art technology could be integrated to optimize the overall process.

There is a growing interest in interactive visuals for dance performance. Recent research has identified potential in using interactive visuals to convey to the audience otherwise non-visible elements of performances. Informed by soma design, and with a co-design perspective, we aim to make apparent non-visible bodily aspects of dancers. We propose to design interactive visuals from body maps, following two approaches – Machine Learning and Composite Animation. We conducted a multi-stage study involving 12 dancers. We present and discuss the results of our evaluations, confirming that both prototypes were successful in addressing our aim, with some limitations. We discuss our two approaches, different uses and actors in different stages, tensions between research and dance creation, and potential applications. Our main contributions are the two approaches for designing interactive visuals from body maps and their analysis. These are materialized in two software systems released as open-source and in their design framework descriptions.

Digital Commons have been widely studied in HCI and co-design literature as an alternative to technologies produced by capitalistic corporations. In this paper, we present an action-research process that facilitates the use of digital commons among a group of participants. The process core aspect is understanding our participants’ interests and values to present multiple off-the-shelf tools fitting their needs. In doing so, we leveraged on Artifact Ecologies, using them as an action-research tool. The process is articulated in three main phases: 1) we engaged participants in a reflection on their Artifact Ecologies, connecting the artifacts in use to their values; 2) we used these results to selected valuable digital commons; 3) we presented these tools to the group, connecting them to participants’ ecologies. At the end of the process, we performed a collective interview to evaluate the process alongside assessing the adoption of the proposed technologies. Based on our findings, we developed five tactics to foster digital commoning.

There has been a growing interest in interactive visuals in contemporary dance performances. These visuals often rely on embodied interaction techniques, such as motion capture or biosignal sensors. However, there is a lack of research into how audience members experience these interactive visuals, and how to enhance that experience. We conducted an audience study, involving four different dance performances. Each of the performances explored a different approach for interaction involving visuals. We collected data from audience members, regarding their experience of the performances, using questionnaires and interviews. The analysis of this data allows us to identify implications for design: balancing trade-offs within a mapping clarity spectrum; connecting layers; visuals as co-creative mediator; defined territory and individuality of visuals; exploration of perspective shift and abstract fragmentation. We argue that these considerations are relevant for designers of systems visualizing embodied interaction, not just for dance, but also for other related applications.

This paper argues that a significant paradigm change in contemporary dance can offer further opportunities for HCI researchers interested in embodied interaction and interactive system design. Based on the analysis of 42 HCI papers in our data set, resulting from searches in two computing research libraries, we suggest seven thematic categories that reflect how HCI researchers have been engaging with contemporary dance. Moreover, we propose a standardized usage of contemporary dance terminology in HCI literature, and discuss the current state of engagement with publications from the field of performance theory. We identify three opportunities for HCI, which can arise through further engagement with the knowledge produced in contemporary dance and performance: to engage with the field of embodied interaction from the perspective of performance research and theory; to employ contemporary dance methods and practices in HCI research; and to integrate contemporary dance choreographers and performers as researchers in interdisciplinary projects.

Orientation is an emerging issue in cinematic Virtual Reality (VR), as viewers may fail in locating points of interest. Recent strategies to tackle this research problem have investigated the role of cues, specifically diegetic sound effects. In this paper, we examine the use of sound spatialization for orientation purposes, namely by studying different spatialization conditions ("none", "partial", and "full" spatial manipulation) of multitrack soundtracks. We performed a between-subject mixed-methods study with 36 participants, aided by Cue Control, a tool we developed for dynamic spatial sound editing and data collection/analysis. Based on existing literature on orientation cues in 360º and theories on human listening, we discuss situations in which the spatialization was more effective (namely, "full" spatial manipulation both when using only music and when combining music and diegetic effects), and how this can be used by creators of 360º videos.

This paper presents a model to codesign interpretively flexible artefacts. We present the case study of Beatfield, a multimodal system that allows users to control audiovisual material by means of tangible interaction. The design of the system was coauthored by individuals with different background and interests to encourage a range of difference interpretations. The capability of Beatfield to foster multiple interpretations was evaluated in a qualitative study with 21 participants. Elaborating on the outcome of this study, we present a new design model that can be used to stimulate heterogeneous interpretations of interactive artefacts.