Abstract
Musical information can be transmitted to the user using haptic stimuli. These stimuli are generated by a device that consists of one or more vibrating actuators attached to strategic locations on the skin. Musical characteristics such as rhythm, tempo and dynamics are translated to vibrotactile stimuli by controlling the onset asynchrony, frequency and intensity of the vibrations. These haptic interfaces may be used by people with hearing impairment to feel the music through the skin or by people with no hearing issues to enrich the music listening experience. One of the most challenging design requirements of vibrotactile music interfaces is to convey meaningful stimuli. For instance, if a sad song is translated into vibrotactile music, the user would be expected to associate this stimulation with sadness. However, current designs do not usually consider a concise relationship between the signal rendering strategy and the emotional effect a piece of vibrotactile music should have on the user. This research project focuses on designing a haptic interface with vibrotactile feedback that conveys musical information through cutaneous stimuli known as tactile illusions. The advantage of implementing tactile illusions is that complex skin sensations, which may effectively express emotions, can be obtained with a reduced number of actuators.
Bio
Paul Remache is a Mechanical Engineer with a Master's Degree in Music Technology. He is currently doing doctorate studies in Mechatronics at the School of Engineering of the Universidad de Málaga, Spain. In addition, he works as a lecturer and researcher at the School of Industrial Engineering of the Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica - Ecuador. His research interests are mechatronics, music, human-computer interaction (HCI), sensory substitution, and haptics.
