Tangible Acoustic Interfaces and their Applications for the Design of New Musical Instruments

Tangible Acoustic Interfaces (TAI) rely on various acousticsensing technologies, such as sound source location and acoustic imaging, to detect the position of contact of users interacting with the surface of solid materials. With their ability to transform almost any physical objects, flat or curved surfaces and walls into interactive interfaces, acoustic sensing technologies show a promising way to bring the sense of touch into the realm of computer interaction. Because music making has been closely related to this sense during centuries, an application of particular interest is the use of TAI’s for the design of new musical instruments that matches the physicality and expressiveness of classical instruments. This paper gives an overview of the various acoustic-sensing technologies involved in the realisation of TAI’s and develops on the motivation underlying their use for the design of new musical instruments.