Accessible Digital Musical Instruments - A Survey of Inclusive Instruments Presented at the NIME, SMC and ICMC Conferences

Abstract

This paper describes a survey of accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) presented at the NIME, SMC and ICMC conferences. It outlines the history of research concerned with facilitating inclusion in music making and discusses advances, current state of developments and trends in the field. Based on a systematic analysis of DMIs presented at the three conferences, seven control interface types could be identified: tangible, nontangible, audio, touch-screen, gaze, BCMIs and adapted instruments. Most of the ADMIs were tangible interfaces or physical controllers. Many of the instruments were designed for persons with physical disabilities or children with health conditions or impairments. Little attention was paid to DMIs for blind users. Although the haptic modality could play an important role in musical interaction in this context, relatively few of the ADMIs (26.7%) incorporated vibrotactile feedback. A discussion on future directions for inclusive design of DMIs is presented.