When the body movements affect your senses

Reflection

       The open university, sensory augmentation devices, computer sciences

                                          

The E-Sense research program wants to create useful devices.

On this video we can see, two sorts of experiences:

       First, how vibrotector devices can help to play an instrument ?

       Second, how vibrotector devices can help blind people ?

At the beginning a researcher said : how we can extend the mind, the senses ? What it means to be human ?

They study these questions using technologies. They use vibrations to understand the working of responses of senses ; how senses work and react.

   

     The first experience : a girl plays drum thanks to vibrations she feels. Little devices are attached to each limb (wrists and legs). Vibrations she feels are like the vibrating battery on mobil phone. They are activated when the computer plays something we want to learn. Each vibration corresponds to one hit on the drum.

On the video another researcher said it’s very hard to learn an instrument when we need more one hand. I’m pianist. My teacher explains to me that when someone plays piano he uses three parts of his brain. We have to read the score and we have to do two differents things with our hands. And we have to coordinate all this. In everyday life we never use three parts of our brain.

                

          So, let vibrations doing everything, is it really interesting ?

I think it depend on what you want to do exactly. It’s too easy use vibrations to learn an instrument. If it’s just one time, to try, to help you, why not ; but if you really want learn how to play an instrument, I think it’s more interesting if your brain works.

The same guy said that this device is good to understanding music better, enjoying music better, analyzing music better and composing music better.

Maybe. But you are really dependent of this device, you need it. And I think you are not credible and you are not a musician. Be a musician is a real work, it’s hard and long. Use vibration is too easy and simplistic.

      On the contrary, I think the second experience is really interesting. Vibrotector devices help blind people to « see » the objects around them.

They do this experience with a ball, a described plane : a table with sensor (a plane where the vibrations could be felt by humans), and a blind girl who carry a belt with little vibrating devices.

The goal is to catch the ball rolling on the table thanks to vibrations (blindfold the girl). When the ball rolls on the right side of the table, the girl feels vibrations on the right side of her stomach and inversely. When the ball rolls on the table, the girls feels vibrations and she can catch the ball. There is very good results with this experience. Blind people can learn to interpret these vibrations and recognize objects. They can feel, prevent when something moving in a described plane.

The E-Sense research program built very useful technologies

These experiences show the importance of senses. Thanks to body responses, vibrating devices make everyday life easier.