A prototyping support system for the creation of painted musical instruments
Yoshinari Takegawa, Kenichiro Fukushi, Tod Machover, Tsutomu Terada, Masahiko Tsukamoto · International Journal of Arts and Technology · 2015
Currently there are numerous works of research and products which utilise electronic and information technology to equip a piece of paper with interactive functions, including illustrated books which output sounds and the process of drawing electric circuits onto paper, in conductive ink, to facilitate the output of light and sound. However, these technologies do not facilitate customisation of the output that is linked to an input interface. In the case of producing a musical instrument, the sound comprises a wide range of tones and pitches and naturally a single note will produce a different effect than chords and melody. When users are creating a painted musical instrument they identify and discuss any design flaws and then test the design through use of the customise function, which controls the sound output. Therefore, our study aims to construct a prototyping support system for the creation of painted musical instruments. By using conductive ink to draw various designs onto paper, users create input interfaces to which they can then assign different sounds freely and easily. To evaluate the usability of the proposed system, we conducted a basic experiment, as well as an exhibition and a workshop, using our proposed system.