Dear musicians,
With apologies for the cross-posting...
I am writing with details of a project being undertaken by Dr. David Baker and
Prof Lucy Green at the Institute ofEducation, University of London to develop a
means of haptic communication between conductors and musicians. More details
are below, including four dates when you are invited to try out the technology
and take part in a discussion to contribute to the project.
RNIB is not directly involved, and I have no details other than those given
below, but please do contact David directly for further information and to
register your interest. You may remember David and Lucy as the researchers
behind the Visually Impaired Musicians Lives project back in 2015. David is
copied into this message.
For any of us with a visual impairment who have played in any type of
ensembles, the issues of working with a conductor inevitably crop up to a
greater or lesser degree. So, whatever your experience or thoughts, do read on
and participate in the project to share your views if you wish. If you are
interested, but unable to travel to London on the dates below, please do still
register your interest with David.
With best wishes, James
Dr David Baker
Room 931
UCL Institute of Education
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
E-mail: david.baker@xxxxxxxxx
28 February 2017
Dear Fellow Musician,
Information sheet for participants in the conducting and haptic digital
prototype trials and focus groups
I am a researcher at the UCL Institute of Education, London working with
colleagues (Professor Lucy Green, also from UCL and Ann Fomukong-Bowden, an
electronic engineer) on developing a prototype technology to communicate the
conductor's gestures via Bluetooth technology to blind and partially-sighted
(i.e. visually impaired) performers in music ensembles. The prototype will
entail the visually impaired musician wearing a vest that vibrates to track
these gestures in two dimensions. This will be a gentle, harmless vibration
moving across the wearer's back similar in amplitude to a mobile telephone.
There is no risk of harm. We believe this technology has the potential to
integrate congenitally blind musicians (including adults, children, beginners
and professionals), or those who experience sight loss later in life, into
sighted musical contexts more successfully.
During our trial days, which will take place on 20 April, 10 May, 24 May and 30
June 2017 at the UCL Institute, we would also like to interview you in a focus
group with other visually impaired musicians to ascertain the challenges there
are to performing in an ensemble amongst sighted peers and also to get your
feedback on the developing prototype. So there is nothing particularly
sensitive about our questions. These interviews will be audio recorded and
transcribed; they will last for approximately 30 minutes. On completion of the
transcription, the audio, which will be kept on a password protected computer,
will be securely erased. You will be given a pseudonym in the transcription and
other "identifiers" such as e.g. the name of your workplace, or the name of the
orchestras in which you perform, etc. will be removed. We will share the
transcription with you so that you can check its faithfulness to your meaning
and also flag any sensitive issues that you would rather not have reported. We
may wish to cite some of your words in our reporting but only after making them
confidential. There is always a slight risk that someone might recognise you
from something we write however, due to visually impaired musicians being a
small group within society, but we will strive to mask your identity and never
purposefully disclose it.
Participation in this project is entirely voluntary. As someone who is visually
impaired and a musician who performs in ensembles, we would be delighted if you
could help us trial this new technology. By attending our trial days at the UCL
Institute of Education, you give your consent to participate in the research,
but can opt out at any point simply by sending an e-mail to me.
If you have any further questions, I would be delighted to answer them.
I do hope that you can support us with this important work and look forward to
meeting you. If you are interested in participating in one or more of these
trial days, please send me an e-mail to david.baker@xxxxxxxxx
Yours sincerely,
David Baker
----
James Risdon
RNIB Music Officer
105 Judd Street, London, WC1H 9NE
tel: 020 7391 2273
Website: www.rnib.org.uk/music
Please note my working days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
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