Vibrotactile feedback-assisted performance

When performing digital music it is important to be able to acquire a comparable level of sensitivity and control to what can be achieved with acoustic instruments. By examining the links between sound and touch, new compositional and performance strategies start to emerge for performers using digital instruments¹ . These involve technological implementations utilizing the haptic² information channels, offering insight into how our tacit knowledge of the physical world can be introduced to the digital domain, enforcing the view that sound is a ‘species of touch’ [14]. This document illustrates reasons why vibrotactile interfaces, which offer physical feedback to the performer, may be viewed as an important approach in addressing the limitations of current physical dynamic systems used to mediate the digital performer’s control of various sorts of musical information. It will examine one such method used for performing in two different settings: with piano and live electronics, and laptop alone, where in both cases, feedback is artificially introduced to the performer’s hands offering different information about what is occurring musically. The successes of this heuristic research will be assessed, along with a discussion of future directions of experimentation.