Wii-bändi : designing an expressive digital musical interface for therapeutic use with disabled people in a group setting

2011

This thesis presents the developmental prototype of a gesturally controlled digital musical interface. It is called Wii-bändi, as it uses Nintendo Wii controllers to translate the gestures into music, and is constructed specifically for clients with a variety of physical and mental disabilities so that they can use it in a therapeutic group context. It is argued that gestural and emotional expressivity might be based on a theory of vitality affects, and that optimal learnability could be achieved through making use of learning schemas. It then sets out how the interface was created using a methodological approach based on action research, describing the specific contexts that led to the cha…