Human-robot ensemble between robot thereminist and human percussionist using coupled oscillator model

Abstract

This paper presents a novel synchronizing method for a human-robot ensemble using coupled oscillators. We define an ensemble as a synchronized performance produced through interactions between independent players. To attain better synchronized performance, the robot should predict the human's behavior to reduce the difference between the human's and robot's onset timings. Existing studies in such synchronization only adapts to onset intervals, thus, need a considerable time to synchronize. We use a coupled oscillator model to predict the human's behavior. Experimental results show that our method reduces the average of onset time errors; when we use a metronome, a tempo-varying metronome or a human drummer, errors are reduced by 38%, 10% or 14% on the average, respectively. These results mean that the prediction of human's behaviors is effective for the synchronized performance.