Sound and music control using haptic and visual feedback in the PHASE installation

The PHASE project is a research project devoted to the study and the realization of systems of multi-modal interaction for generation, handling and control of sound and music. Supported by the network RIAM (Recherche et Innovation en Audiovisuel et Multimédia), it was carried out by the CEA-LIST for haptic research, Haption for the realization of the haptic device, Ondim for integration and visual realization and Ircam for research and realization about sound, music and the metaphors for interaction. The integration of the three modalities offers completely innovative capacities for interaction. The objectives are scientific, cultural and educational. Finally, an additional objective was to test such a prototype system, including its haptic arm, in real conditions for general public and over a long duration in order to measure its solidity, its reliability and its interest for users. Thus, during the last three months of the project, a demonstrator was presented and evaluated in a museum in Paris, in the form of an interactive installation offering the public a musical game. Different from a video game, the aim is not to animate the pixels on the screen but to play music and to incite musical awareness.