Magic Tree - Development of a technology mediating multi-sensory musical instrument

Sammanfattning: This thesis is part of the MISK-project, Musik, Interaktiv design, Sinnesstimulering och Kvalitet (Music, Interactive design, Sensory stimulation and Quality). The MISK-project is a collaborative project between Certec at LTH, Furuboda Folkhögskola and Eldorado Resurscenter, developing musical instruments for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities. The goal of the thesis is to construct a new type of music instrument that is compatible with the music software developed in the MISK-project, and that stimulates multiple of the user’s senses when being played. During the thesis project, the scope was focused on building an instrument for an upcoming exhibition at Världskulturmuseet, where the MISK-project will be exhibiting. The instrument is built to look like a tree branch, that the user can play on by touching the lights hanging down from it, fitting into the theme of a magical forest, and is named The Magic Tree. The instrument is constructed using an Arduino, capacitive touch sensors, and fibre optics, to create the sensation of the user playing on the lights hanging from the branch. The Magic Tree emits light through the fibre optics corresponding to where the user is touching it. The branch plays music by sending messages over Wi-Fi to a computer running the MISK music software that interprets the signals and sends out music.