This paper presents initial steps towards the design of an embedded system for body-centric sonic performance. The proposed prototyping system allows performers to manipulate sounds through gestural interactions captured by textile wearable sensors. The e-textile sensor data control, in real-time, audio synthesis algorithms working with content from Audio Commons, a novel web-based ecosystem for re-purposing crowd-sourced audio. The system enables creative embodied music interactions by combining seamless physical e-textiles with web-based digital audio technologies.

Live performances which involve digital technology often strive toward clear correspondences between distinct media modes, particularly those works which combine audio and video. Often, the process of creating and executing such performances involves mapping schemes which are encased within the digital system, producing content which is tightly synchronized but with relationships which can feel rigid and unexpressive. Within this paper we present a collaborative process between visualist and musician, which builds toward a method for promoting co-creativity in multimedia performance and prioritizes the performer's physical presence and interaction with digital content. Through the development of two autonomous systems, a novel physical interface and an interactive music system, we summarize our creative process of co-exploration of system capabilities, and extended periods of experimentation and exploration. From this experience, we offer an early-stage framework for approaching engaging digital audiovisual relationships in live performance settings.

In this paper we present a preliminary design and initial assessment of a computational musical tabletop exhibit for children and teenagers at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA). We explore how participatory workshops can promote hands-on learning of computational concepts through making music. We also use a hands-on approach to assess informal learning based on maker interviews. Maker interviews serve to subjectively capture impromptu reflections of the visitors' achievements from casual interactions with the exhibit. Findings from our workshops and preliminary assessment indicate that experiencing and taking ownership of tangible programming on a musical tabletop is related to: ownership of failure, ownership through collaboration, ownership of the design, and ownership of code. Overall, this work suggests how to better support ownership of computational concepts in tangible programming, which can inform how to design self-learning experiences at the museum, and future trajectories between the museum and the school or home.

This article presents a video-based field study of the Reactable, a tabletop tangible user interface (TUI) for music performance, in a hands-on science centre. The goal was to investigate visitors’ social interactions in a public setting. We describe liminality and cross-group interaction, both synchronous with fluid transitions and overlaps in use between groups and asynchronous. Our findings indicate the importance of: (i) facilitating smooth transitions and overlaps between groups and (ii) supporting not only synchronous but also asynchronous group interaction. We discuss the lessons learned on how best to enable liminal situations in the design of interactive tabletops and TUIs for social interaction and particularly collaborative tangible music in public museum settings.

There has been little research on how interactions with tabletop and Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) by groups of users change over time. In this article, we investigate the challenges and opportunities of a tabletop tangible interface based on constructive building blocks. We describe a long-term lab study of groups of expert musicians improvising with the Reactable, a commercial tabletop TUI for music performance. We examine interaction, focusing on interface , tangible , musical, and social phenomena. Our findings reveal a practice-based learning between peers in situated contexts, and new forms of participation, all of which is facilitated by the Reactable's tangible interface, if compared to traditional musical ensembles. We summarise our findings as a set of design considerations and conclude that construction processes on interactive tabletops support learning by doing and peer learning, which can inform constructivist approaches to learning with technology.

When electronic musicians compose collaboratively, they typically use their own single-user musical controllers. It may, therefore, be useful to develop novel controllers that support collaborative workflows and democratic principles. After describing the design principles for developing such controllers, we present TOUCHtr4ck, a prototype multi-touch system designed to facilitate such democratic relationships. Informal testing has revealed that this approach does facilitate democratic and collaborative music making, and can produce creative musical results.