Smart mandolin and musical haptic gilet: Effects of vibro-tactile stimuli during live music performance

In this paper we investigate the role of haptic stimuli in affecting the perception of live music. We designed a study where a smart mandolin performer played live for audience members wearing a gilet-based musical haptic wearable, which provided vibro-tactile sensations in response to the performed music. Six performances were conducted, each of which involved audiences of two people for a total of twelve participants. Results showed that the audio-haptic experience was not homogeneous across participants, who could be grouped as those appreciative of the vibrations and those less appreciative of them. The causes for a lack of appreciation of the haptic experience were mainly identified as the sensation of unpleasantness caused by the vibrations in certain parts of the body and the lack of the comprehension of the relation between what was felt and what was heard. Based on the reported results, we offer suggestions for practitioners interested in designing wearables for enriching the musical experience of audiences of live music via the sense of touch. Such suggestions point towards the need of mechanisms of personalization, systems able to minimize the latency between the sound and the vibrations, and a time of adaptation to the vibrations.