Nerve Sensors in Inclusive Musical Performance
Lloyd May, Peter Larsson · 2021
We present the methods and findings of a multi-day performance research lab that evaluated the efficacy of a novel nerve sensor in the context of a physically inclusive performance practice. Nerve sensors are a variant of surface electromyography that are optimized to detect signals from nerve firings rather than skeletal muscle movement, allowing performers with altered muscle physiology or control to use the sensors more effectively. Through iterative co-design and musical performance evaluation, we compared the performative affordances and limitations of the nerve sensor to other contemporary sensor-based gestural instruments. The nerve sensor afforded the communication of gestural effort in a manner that other gestural instruments did not, while offering a smaller palette of reliably classifiable gestures.