TorqueTuner: A self contained module for designing rotary haptic force feedback for digital musical instruments

Mathias S Kirkegaard, Mathias Bredholt, Christian Frisson, and Marcelo Wanderley

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract:

TorqueTuner is an embedded module that allows Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) designers to map sensors to parameters of haptic effects and dynamically modify rotary force feedback in real-time. We embedded inside TorqueTuner a collection of haptic effects (Wall, Magnet, Detents, Spring, Friction, Spin, Free) and a bi-directional interface through libmapper, a software library for making connections between data signals on a shared network. To increase affordability and portability of force-feedback implementations in DMI design, we designed our platform to be wireless, self-contained and built from commercially available components. To provide examples of modularity and portability, we integrated TorqueTuner into a standalone haptic knob and into an existing DMI, the T-Stick. We implemented 3 musical applications (Pitch wheel, Turntable and Exciter), by mapping sensors to sound synthesis in audio programming environment SuperCollider. While the original goal was to simulate the haptic feedback associated with turning a knob, we found that the platform allows for further expanding interaction possibilities in application scenarios where rotary control is familiar.

Citation:

Mathias S Kirkegaard, Mathias Bredholt, Christian Frisson, and Marcelo Wanderley. 2020. TorqueTuner: A self contained module for designing rotary haptic force feedback for digital musical instruments. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4813359

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME20_52,
 abstract = {TorqueTuner is an embedded module that allows Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) designers to map sensors to parameters of haptic effects and dynamically modify rotary force feedback in real-time. We embedded inside TorqueTuner a collection of haptic effects (Wall, Magnet, Detents, Spring, Friction, Spin, Free) and a bi-directional interface through libmapper, a software library for making connections between data signals on a shared network. To increase affordability and portability of force-feedback implementations in DMI design, we designed our platform to be wireless, self-contained and built from commercially available components. To provide examples of modularity and portability, we integrated TorqueTuner into a standalone haptic knob and into an existing DMI, the T-Stick. We implemented 3 musical applications (Pitch wheel, Turntable and Exciter), by mapping sensors to sound synthesis in audio programming environment SuperCollider. While the original goal was to simulate the haptic feedback associated with turning a knob, we found that the platform allows for further expanding interaction possibilities in application scenarios where rotary control is familiar.},
 address = {Birmingham, UK},
 author = {Kirkegaard, Mathias S and Bredholt, Mathias and Frisson, Christian and Wanderley, Marcelo},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.4813359},
 editor = {Romain Michon and Franziska Schroeder},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {July},
 pages = {273--278},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/V8WDMbuX9QA},
 publisher = {Birmingham City University},
 title = {TorqueTuner: A self contained module for designing rotary haptic force feedback for digital musical instruments},
 url = {https://www.nime.org/proceedings/2020/nime2020_paper52.pdf},
 year = {2020}
}