A set of prominent designers embarked on a research journey to explore aesthetics in movement-based design. Here we unpack one of the design sensitivities unique to our practice: a strong first person perspective—where the movements, somatics and aesthetic sensibilities of the designer, design researcher and user are at the forefront. We present an annotated portfolio of design exemplars and a brief introduction to some of the design methods and theory we use, together substantiating and explaining the first-person perspective. At the same time, we show how this felt dimension, despite its subjective nature, is what provides rigor and structure to our design research. Our aim is to assist researchers in soma-based design and designers wanting to consider the multiple facets when designing for the aesthetics of movement. The applications span a large field of designs, including slow introspective, contemplative interactions, arts, dance, health applications, games, work applications and many others.

The rapid development and availability of low-cost technologies have created a wide interest in virtual reality. In the field of computer music, the term “virtual musical instruments” has been used for a long time to describe software simulations, extensions of existing musical instruments, and ways to control them with new interfaces for musical expression. Virtual reality musical instruments (VRMIs) that include a simulated visual component delivered via a head-mounted display or other forms of immersive visualization have not yet received much attention. In this article, we present a field overview of VRMIs from the viewpoint of the performer. We propose nine design guidelines, describe evaluation methods, analyze case studies, and consider future challenges.

A high-fidelity but efficient sound simulation is an essential element of any VR experience. Many of the techniques used in virtual acoustics are graphical rendering techniques suitably modified to account for sound generation and propagation. In recent years, several advances in hardware and software technologies have been facilitating the development of immersive interactive sound-rendering experiences. In this article, we present a review of the state of the art of such simulations, with a focus on the different elements that, combined, provide a complete interactive sonic experience. This includes physics-based simulation of sound effects and their propagation in space together with binaural rendering to simulate the position of sound sources. We present how these different elements of the sound design pipeline have been addressed in the literature, trying to find the trade-off between accuracy and plausibility. Recent applications and current challenges are also presented.

Digital waveguides and finite difference time domain schemes have been used in physical modeling of spatially distributed systems. Both of them are known to provide exact modeling of ideal one-dimensional (1D) band-limited wave propagation, and both of them can be composed to approximate two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) mesh structures. Their equal capabilities in physical modeling have been shown for special cases and have been assumed to cover generalized cases as well. The ability to form mixed models by joining substructures of both classes through converter elements has been proposed recently. In this paper, we formulate a general digital signal processing (DSP)-oriented framework where the functional equivalence of these two approaches is systematically elaborated and the conditions of building mixed models are studied. An example of mixed modeling of a 2D waveguide is presented.

We present two physics-based analysis, synthesis, and control systems for synthesizing hand clapping sounds. They both rely on the separation of the sound synthesis and event generation, and both are capable of producing individual hand-claps, or mimicking the asynchronous/synchronized applause of a group of clappers. The synthesis models consist of resonator filters, whose coefficients are derived from experimental measurements. The difference between these systems is mainly in the statistical event generation. While the first system allows an efficient parametric synthesis of large audiences, as well as flocking and synchronization by simple rules, the second one provides parametric extensions for synthesis of various clapping styles and enhanced control strategies. The synthesis and the control models of both systems are implemented as software running in real time at the audio sample rate, and they are available for download at at http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/software/stk and http://www.acoustics.hut.fi/go/clapd