Eye-tracking digital music creation and performance: disability and ableism

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the developmental process of eye trackers as accessible digital musical instruments (ADMIs) by outlining collaborative research that develops digital art and music creation and performance tools. These tools require eye movements only and are of interest to individuals with all types of mobility and particularly provide music-making options to users with limited mobility. Research grade and gaming eye-tracking technology is adapted with custom software to enable music creation and performance using eye movements only. The relationship of ableism to disability and the role of digital technology to counter the negative social forces of ableism are considered. Because eye-tracking art and music creation tools are rare outside research lab contexts, all users with the ability to move one eye – regardless of other physical ability – have pre-existing capability, which makes this work especially exciting in a disability context.

KEYWORDS:

• Eye tracking
• music creation
• music performance
• digital technology
• ableism
• accessible digital music instruments

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is partially funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Research Council of Canada Insight Grant and by a Canada Foundation for Innovation Infrastructure Grant.

Notes on contributors

Christian Riegel

Christian Riegel is Professor of Health and Medical Humanities and English at Campion College, University of Regina. He works on mourning and memorial in literature and on collaborative interdisciplinary research relating to eye tracking, art and music creation, and ableism and disability.

Katherine M. Robinson

Katherine M. Robinson is Professor of Psychology at Campion College, University of Regina. She researches mathematical cognition, and eye tracking, art and music creation, and ableism and disability.

Tait Larsen

Tait Larsen is a research assistant in the Interactive Media, Poetics, Aesthetics, Cognition, and Technology Lab, a student in the Creative Technologies program and the University of Regina, and a gaming developer.

Patrick Larsen

Patrick Larsen is a research assistant in the Interactive Media, Poetics, Aesthetics, Cognition, and Technology Lab, a student in the Creative Technologies program and the University of Regina, and a gaming developer.