Rhythm'n'Shoes: a Wearable Foot Tapping Interface with Audio-Tactile Feedback

Stefano Papetti, Marco Civolani, and Federico Fontana

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

A shoe-based interface is presented, which enables users toplay percussive virtual instruments by tapping their feet.The wearable interface consists of a pair of sandals equippedwith four force sensors and four actuators affording audiotactile feedback. The sensors provide data via wireless transmission to a host computer, where they are processed andmapped to a physics-based sound synthesis engine. Sincethe system provides OSC and MIDI compatibility, alternative electronic instruments can be used as well. The audiosignals are then sent back wirelessly to audio-tactile excitersembedded in the sandals' sole, and optionally to headphonesand external loudspeakers. The round-trip wireless communication only introduces very small latency, thus guaranteeing coherence and unity in the multimodal percept andallowing tight timing while playing.

Citation

Stefano Papetti, Marco Civolani, and Federico Fontana. 2011. Rhythm'n'Shoes: a Wearable Foot Tapping Interface with Audio-Tactile Feedback. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1178129

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{Papetti2011,
 abstract = {A shoe-based interface is presented, which enables users toplay percussive virtual instruments by tapping their feet.The wearable interface consists of a pair of sandals equippedwith four force sensors and four actuators affording audiotactile feedback. The sensors provide data via wireless transmission to a host computer, where they are processed andmapped to a physics-based sound synthesis engine. Sincethe system provides OSC and MIDI compatibility, alternative electronic instruments can be used as well. The audiosignals are then sent back wirelessly to audio-tactile excitersembedded in the sandals' sole, and optionally to headphonesand external loudspeakers. The round-trip wireless communication only introduces very small latency, thus guaranteeing coherence and unity in the multimodal percept andallowing tight timing while playing.},
 address = {Oslo, Norway},
 author = {Papetti, Stefano and Civolani, Marco and Fontana, Federico},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.1178129},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 keywords = {interface, audio, tactile, foot tapping, embodiment, footwear, wireless, wearable, mobile },
 pages = {473--476},
 title = {Rhythm'n'Shoes: a Wearable Foot Tapping Interface with Audio-Tactile Feedback},
 url = {http://www.nime.org/proceedings/2011/nime2011_473.pdf},
 year = {2011}
}