Designing Musical Soundtracks for Brain Controlled Interface (BCI) Systems

Abstract

This paper presents research based on the creation and development of two Brain Controlled Interface (BCI) based film experiences. The focus of this research is primarily on the audio in the films; the way that the overall experiences were designed, the ways in which the soundtracks were specifically developed for the experiences and the ways in which the audience perceived the use of the soundtrack in the film. Unlike traditional soundtracks the adaptive nature of the audio means that there are multiple parts that can be interacted with and combined at specific moments. The design of such adaptive audio systems is something that is yet to be fully understood and this paper goes someway to presenting our initial findings. We think that this research will be of interest and excite the Audio-HCI community.

BCI Applications to Creativity: Review and Future Directions, from little-c to C2

“…The same system has been used to adapt the soundtracks of particular scenes to the level of engagement of participants. In this way, it was possible to provide musical stimuli that were coherent with the narrative and specifically designed to maintain the observer’s engagement with the story [ 37 ].…”

The Design of Future Music Technologies

“…By making these interactive moments ubiquitous, they can happen at any time…and by mixing the music and sound design in predefined combinations the flow of the film is preserved." [12] Algorithms "The Numbers into Notes project, in its first phase, explored how this might have occurred nearly two centuries ago on the giant steam-powered machine using the mathematics of the time. Now we are asking what Lovelace might do today, with a microcontroller instead of the analytical engine.…”