One of the most intriguing fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) involves the communication aspects of computer music interfaces. Music is a rich communication medium, and computer music is the amalgam of interface science and musical praxis forming a dynamic subset of HCI. There are structural similarities between the job of a music composer and that of a user interface designer (although their objectives may be different). While sound has been used in general purpose interfaces as an object, its use has been deteriorated at a primary level, that of a signal-processing approach. However, music composition and performance are highly abstract human activities involving a semantic and a symbolic mechanism of human intellectual activity. This article analyzes the unique problems posed by the use of computers by composers and performers of music. It presents the HCI predicates involved in the chain of musical interaction with computer devices, commencing from the abstract part of symbolic composition, then coping with usability issues of the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) implemented for musical scripting, and concluding to a synthesis stage which produces digitized sounds that enhance or replace original analog audio signals. The evaluation of HCI elements for computer music under the prism of usability aims at the development of new graphical tools, new symbolic languages, and finally better user interfaces. The advance in technology on this area creates the demand for more qualitative user interfaces and more functional and flexible computer music devices. The peculiarities of computer music create new fields in HCI research concerning the design and the functionality of computer music systems.
The idea of creating a virtual museum is far from new. However, creating a museum that an archaeologist could customize to match his needs is quite innovative. Here we present a system which can be used for online visualization of museums. Although there are plenty of online virtual museums, none of them is customizable. These museums are designed statically and represent certain museums, which makes it rather difficult to change. On the contrary, our Dynamic Virtual Museum is easily managed through database entries, which provide all necessary variables (rooms, models, exhibits) and interact with the renderer through scripts. Therefore, the virtual museum can be easily transformed to match any given exhibition or a visitor’s specific choices. The system consists of two main elements, a database where all information about the exhibits, models, and so forth, is kept and a renderer which is responsible for graphically representing all this information on the computer screen.
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