Squeezables : tactile and expressive interfaces for children of all ages

Abstract

Electronic musical instruments are used in a wide variety of roles in the professional production and performance of all kinds of music. Moreover, they have great potential for use by non-professionals in the applications of interactive entertainment and music education. Despite the wide range of current and potential roles for these instruments, the range of interfaces commonly used to control them is quite narrow. Musical interfaces are usually limited to organ-style keyboards, buttons, knobs, and sliders. Since these interfaces can be intimidating and/or hard to learn, the investigation of alternate interfaces is particularly relevant for use by non-professionals. Even professionals who have taken the time to master traditional interfaces could benefit from the different modes of physical expression made possible by alternate interfaces. Rather than confining ourselves to one of these traditional kinds of input interfaces for sounds and music, we are pursuing an ambitious dream from a radically new perspective. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to demonstrate that the everyday actions we do with our hands, such as squeezing and pulling, can be tapped and used for creating sounds and music. The control of this instrument is universal and perceptually meaningful for children of all ages in their quest for creativity. This thesis describes a new class of interfaces, Squeezables, which can be used as an expressive input interface for controlling musical outputs in place of traditional interfaces usually found on electronic musical instruments. This thesis presents three major forms of the Squeezables developed. They are the cluster, the pole and the table. It also presents two related works, Musical Play Pen. and Digital Maracas. Issues addressed include selection of materials, selection of sensors, sensor placement, and mapping of sensor values for various musical applications. This thesis will also describe the evolution of the Squeezables, from the first version to the latest table version. Furthermore, this thesis will discuss the pros and cons of each version of Squeezables and how Squeezables may evolve in the future.