Målet med projektet är att skapa en fungerande hörseltränings prototyp som kan vara användbar för en vidareutveckling av träningssystem för personer med nedsatt hörsel. Idén bygger på “The Music Puzzle” (Hansen et al. 2012). Prototypen benämndes SoundCubes och består av tre kuber med olika motiv (Fiducial markörer) på fyra av de sex sidorna. Ett ljudspår delades i tre delar och tilldelades till kuberna. Varje del fragmenterades i fyra nivåer där den första spelar upp ett instrument ända fram till att alla instrumenten hörs. Dessa faser tilldelades till Fiducial markörerna på kubens fyra sidor. Kuberna är slumpmässigt placerade horisontellt framför en kamera som är ansluten till en dator. Alla fyra sidor av kuberna som har motivet fastsatt kommer att spela upp reproduktionen av ett fragment från ljudspåret när de ställs inför kamerans synfält. Endast en specifik kombination av sidorna och horisontell ordning av kuberna kommer att leda till de fullständiga ljudspårskomponenterna och till ett applådljud som signalerar den framgångsrika reproduktionen av det ursprungliga ljudspåret. SoundCubes prototypen utvecklades funktionellt genom TUIO, ReacTIVision och Pure Data. För att kunna fastställa ifall prototypens interaktion fungerade så testades SoundCubes på 15 friska personer utan nedsatt hörsel. Testpersonerna introducerades individuellt till prototypen, och de fick sedan lyssna på det kompletta ljudspåret. Därefter fick de uppgiften att reproducera det kompletta ljudspåret genom att hitta kubernas rätta sidor och horisontella ordning. Av totalt 15 individer klarade 12 av testet inom tidsgränsen (tio minuter). Vi kunde därför komma fram till att prototypen och dess interaktion fungerar, vi kunde även observera att användningen av SoundCubes upplevdes som underhållande och engagerande. Detta första test kan därför lägga grund för vidareutveckling av SoundCubes konceptet för hörselträning på ett interaktivt och underhållande sätt. / The aim of the present project was to create a functional sound-training prototype which may be useful for further development of training systems for individuals with impaired hearing. The idea is based on the concept of “The Music Puzzle” (Hansen et al. 2012). The prototype proposed here was termed SoundCubes and it is composed of three cubes with different motives (Fiducial markers) on four of the six sides. A soundtrack was divided into three parts and was assigned to the cubes. Each part was fragmented into four parties where the first playing an instrument until all the instruments could be heard. These parts were assigned to Fiducial markers on the four sides of the cube. The cubes are randomly placed horizontally in front of a camera attached to a computer. All of the four sides with a motive of the cubes will induce the reproduction of fragments of a soundtrack when exposed to the field of the camera thanks to the specific motives attached on it. Only one specific combination of the sides and horizontal order of the cubes will lead to the complete soundtrack instrumental components and to a clapping sound which signals the successful reproduction of the2initial soundtrack. The SoundCubes prototype was developed functionally through Tuio, ReacTIVision and Pure Data. SoundCubes was tested on 15 healthy individuals without hearing impairments to determine if the prototype’s interaction works. The test individuals were individually introduced to SoundCubes, and they were allowed to hear the complete soundtrack. Thereafter, they were given the task of reproducing the complete track by finding the right side and horizontal order of the cubes. Out of a total of 15 individuals, 12 completed the test successfully within the maximum given time frame (ten minutes).We could therefore conclude that the system works properly, and we also observed that the test was experienced as very entertaining and engaging. this first test puts therefore the basis for further development of the SoundCubes concept to train people’s hearing in an interactive and entertaining way.Kjetil

Note sequence morphing is the combination of two note sequences to create a ‘hybrid transition’, or ‘morph’. The morph is a ‘hybrid’ in the sense that it exhibits properties of both sequences. The morph is also a ‘transition’, in that it can segue between them. An automated and interactive approach allows manipulation in realtime by users who may control the relative influence of source or target and the transition length. The techniques that were developed through this research were designed particularly for popular genres of predominantly instrumental electronic music which I will refer to collectively as Mainstream Electronic Music (MEM). The research has potential for application within contexts such as computer games, multimedia, live electronic music, interactive installations and accessible music or “music therapy”. Musical themes in computer games and multimedia can morph adaptively in response to parameters in realtime. Morphing can be used by electronic music producers as an alternative to mixing in live performance. Interactive installations and accessible music devices can utilise morphing algorithms to enable expressive control over the music through simple interface components. I have developed a software application called LEMorpheus which consists of software infrastructure for morphing and three alternative note sequence morphing algorithms: parametric morphing, probabilistic morphing and evolutionary morphing. Parametric morphing involves converting the source and target into continuous envelopes, interpolation, and converting the interpolated envelopes back into note sequences. Probabilistic morphing involves converting the source and target into probability matrices and seeding them on recent output to generate the next note. Evolutionary morphing involves iteratively mutating the source into multiple possible candidates and selecting those which are judged as more similar to the target, until the target is reached. I formally evaluated the probabilistic morphing algorithm by extracting qualitative feedback from participants in a live electronic music situation, benchmarked against a live, professional DJ. The probabilistic algorithm was competitive, being favoured particularly for long morphs. The evolutionary morphing algorithm was formally evaluated using an online questionnaire, benchmarked against a human composer/producer. For particular samples, the morphing algorithm was competitive and occasionally seen as innovative; however, the morphs created by the human composer typically received more positive feedback, due to coherent, large scale structural changes, as opposed to the forced continuity of the morphing software.