STACCATO

The Staccato project is part of the current field of research on vibrotactile perception and on digital and electroacoustic tools for its implementation, within the framework of shared musical practice. Two complementary uses of vibrotactile stimuli are considered: as a sensory feedback for control of instrumental activity and as an information vector for interpersonal communication. We will study for this purpose different devices (a vibrotactile bracelet in particular) adapted to the intended uses and populations, and a system of vibrotactile signs will be developed and evaluated in a collective play situation. The object of this project is thus the study of these two major functions of the vibrotactile experience in the musical play, a specific practice comparable in some aspects to other activities in which the human being can use this sensory experience to orient and adjust his behavior, in an individual or collective situation. To extend our results to diversified uses (help in everyday life, professional activities requiring an expert gesture, etc.), we will conduct our research by contrasting different perceptual conditions with hearing, hearing impaired, seeing, visually impaired, musician and non-musician participants. The originality of the project lies in the fact that it aims to articulate the scientific and technological advances so far recorded in the fields of vibrations, acoustics and music, with a psychological approach to sensory experience. With a team of psychologists, linguists, engineers and musicologists, this study places at the center of research the point of view of the subject in the multiple dimensions of perception, representation and expression (verbal and non-verbal). The question of meaning is the point of articulation of an interdisciplinary approach to take into consideration the subject who perceives and explores vibrations. This approach structures the methodology, from the experiences to the analyzes that will be carried out: the project involves three main tasks of experimentation, each including semi-structured interviews, closed questionnaires and individual and collective experiences, in the laboratory and in context. These different data collection techniques aim to ensure the internal and ecological validity of the conclusions in order to answer research questions. The audio-visual and chirographic recording of participants' body gestures, their sound productions during musical play situations and their verbal productions during perceptive experiences through questionnaires and interviews, will be systematized in analysis grids to define according to the types of information of the corpus : images and physical measurements of the corporal gestures, verbal information and sound sequences. A qualitative data analysis will be performed, using some quantitative techniques necessary for speech analysis and significance analysis of nonverbal data.