In Semester 1 of 2016, Team Good Vibes formed as a project group for the Physical Computing and Interaction Design course (DECO3850) at The University of Queensland, and embarked on 13 weeks of ideation and iterative development. The team set out to built an interactive installation, MozART, to be exhibited as part of the UQ Interaction Design Exhibit held at SLQ The Edge at the culmination of the semester. Taking inspiration from the Physical Computing and Interaction Design (DECO3850) course aim, ‘to create a physical computing project designed for playful and open ended interactions in everyday life’, the team chose to undertake the topic of musical performance for non-musicians.

Motivations

The decision to pursue the topic of musical performance for non-musicians stemmed from research into the profound impact learning music has on children during their stages of development. The team also discussed the use of music as a universal language, pervading all continents and cultures through human expression and storytelling as well as assisting in breaking down linguistic barriers. Discussions of our own experiences revealed that many people can go their whole lives without engaging in music beyond simply listening to others play or share it. However, mastering dexterity with traditional instruments takes years of practice and precise techniques, which is often only pursued by those seen as naturally gifted or incredibly persistent.

The Project

MozART is an installation built to achieve a simple goal, to create a sensory and exploratory musical experience that allows people to explore and play with music without requiring any prior musical knowledge. Removing the factors that often prevent people from engaging in music, fear and lack of expertise, MozART aims to explore the way people interact with music and each other when they find themselves capable of much more than they ever have been before. MozART was designed to draw people in and encourage them to touch and play with the spandex canvas whilst generating interesting visuals and dynamically changing sounds.

Now, after Semester 2 2016, Team Good Vibes has furthered the development of the MozART installation in conjunction with the UQ School of Music’s iPad Ensemble and was able to participate in their end of semester performance. Inclusion in this ensemble allowed the team to explore how best to iteratively redesign the interface to support fully-fledged musical composition and corresponding visual displays. The team aimed to be a valuable addition to the ensemble and their performance, whilst also providing the audience with insight into emerging music technologies and even the chance to participate themselves after the performance. Having access to musically experienced or simply musically interested people was crucial in moving forward with MozART and achieving the aim that was only partially achieved in the first iteration of the project.

Reflections from Semester One:

Ideation and Development:

A crucial part in the success of our project in Semester One was our ability to work effectively and efficiently as a team, which became clear to us immediately after forming the team. We were able to decide on an idea quite quickly, and think rationally about what we could and could not achieve realistically within the semester. Benefitted by our wide range of skills and interest areas, we were each able to take charge on different features, and stuck to our goals which allowed us to produce a functioning prototype well before the exhibition date.

Final Showcase:

The showcase held at the The Edge, State Library of Queensland on the 31st of May, 2016 was the final presentation of all the projects built during the semester for DECO3850. After being given a separate room away from other groups due to our audio requirements, Team Good Vibes was able to setup MozART in the innovation lab along with a few couches and beanbags to add to the experience we wanted to create. We were also able to set up a livestream on Twitch which we displayed outside in the main area to encourage people to come and visit our installation. As the day continued, we got a lot more visitors who had heard via word of mouth to check us out, which was very encouraging.

The showcase taught the team a lot about the difficulties of designing an installation that invites users to explore and play, without detracting from the experience, by including complex and obstructing tutorials and guides. The largest point of failure was the lack of understanding from first time users about how to begin using MozART. Most users who wanted to interact with the installation, but who had not received instructions from the team or witnessed other people using it, were unsure of how to properly interact with the canvas. A decent percentage of people also chose to simply observe others using the canvas, and although this served a purpose in making the interaction seem more like a performance, these users missed out on experiencing it for themselves. It was also noted that many users stuck to one particular section of the screen, and just used the one hand instead of branching out and trying different interactions.

The reception we received from people attending the event was fantastic, with a lot of people keen to talk to us more about our work, rather than just try it and move on to the next one. We also got a lot of suggestions about how it could be used in other situations and for other purposes. Those guests in attendance who had musical experience could see the implications this type of project could have if developed further, and also had a lot of suggestions for us concerning that.

Reflections from Semester Two:

Iteration and Collaboration:

Semester two presented the opportunity to extend upon the MozART project and design further iterations. The development of this second project iteration was run in collaboration with the School of Music in order to extend upon the musical interface. Working alongside the iPad Ensemble from the School of Music, this gave access to a group of students with interests in digital music production. With the main goal of the semester to lead into an iteration of the project which better suits the expectations of a musician with variant levels of expertise. Essentially developing MozART into an interface which may be better related to reflect elements of a musical instrument.

iPad Ensemble Performance:

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