Design and evaluation of interactive musical fruit

Abstract

In this paper we describe the design and evaluation of a novel, tangible user interface for interaction with sound, to be implemented in a museum setting. Our workinprogress is part of a larger concept for an installation prioritizing a collaborative, explorative, multimodal experience. Focus has been centered on novice children, in order to accommodate all potential users of the museum, and to minimize the risk of excluding users based on skill or previous musical knowhow. We have developed four instances of a multimodal device for interacting with sounds via a tangible interface, and called them Interactive Musical Fruits (IMFs). The IMF consists of an embedded processing system, which can detect its orientation. Qualitative testing with children has been performed, to better evaluate the current design state. Positive feedback from the test subjects upholds the validity and the potential of the IMF as an interface in a museum context. However, further research is required to improve the interactive and collaborative aspects of the device, as well as the aural and visual properties of the IMF.