Matthew Woolhouse

Effects on Inter-Personal Memory of Dancing in Time with Others

We report an experiment investigating whether dancing to the same music enhances recall of person-related memory targets. The experiment used 40 dancers (all of whom were unaware of the experiment’s aim), two-channel silent-disco radio headphones, a marked-up dance floor, two types of music, and memory targets (sash colors and symbols). In each trial, 10 dancers wore radio headphones and one of four different colored sashes, half of which carried cat symbols. Using silent-disco technology, one type of music was surreptitiously transmitted to half the dancers, while music at a different tempo was transmitted to the remaining dancers. Pre-experiment, the dancers’ faces were photographed. Post-experiment, each dancer was presented with the photographs of the other dancers and asked to recall their memory targets. Results showed that same-music dancing significantly enhanced memory for sash color and sash symbol. Our findings are discussed in light of recent eye-movement research that showed significantly increased gaze durations for people observing music-dance synchrony versus music-dance asynchrony, and in relation to current literature on interpersonal entrainment, group cohesion, and social bonding.

Traces across the body: influence of music-dance synchrony on the observation of dance

In previous studies investigating entrainment and person perception, synchronized movements were found to enhance memory for incidental person attributes. Although this effect is robust, including in dance, the process by which it is actuated are less well understood. In this study, two hypotheses are investigated: that enhanced memory for person attributes is the result of (1) increased gaze time between in-tempo dancers; and/or (2) greater attentional focus between in-tempo dancers. To explore these possible mechanisms in the context of observing dance, an eye-tracking study was conducted in which subjects watched videos of pairs of laterally positioned dancers; only one of the dancers was synchronized with the music, the other being asynchronous. The results were consistent with the first hypothesis—music-dance synchrony gives rise to increased visual inspection times. In addition, there was a preference for upper-body fixations over lower-body fixations across both synchronous and asynchronous conditions. A subsequent, single-dancer eye-tracking study investigated fixations across different body regions, including head, torso, legs and feet. Significantly greater dwell times were recorded for head than torso and legs; feet attracted significantly less dwell time than any other body region. Lastly, the study sought to identify dance gestures responsible for torso- and head-directed fixations. Specifically we asked whether there are features in dance that are specially designed to direct an observer’s gaze towards the face—the main “communicative portal” with respect to the transmission of intent, affect and empathy.

Perception of nonadjacent tonic-key relationships

The issue of structural nonadjacency in music and language was explored from a musical perspective in an experiment employing a stimulus-matching paradigm. The experiment measured the perceptual effect of a temporally nonadjacent key on the closure of a musical phrase; participants rated a stimulus-ending two-chord probe cadence for its closural properties. The temporal rate of decay of the nonadjacent key in memory was observed by varying the length of the intervening key area; that is, the key temporally adjacent to the probe cadence. Evidence emerged that listeners were able to hold the nonadjacent key in memory for over 10 seconds, indicating “global” nonadjacent harmonic perceptions. The study provides qualified evidence to support the notion that there are syntactic parallelisms between language and music, particularly in respect of nonadjacent key relationships.

GRAIL: Database Linking Music Metadata Across Artist, Release, and Track

Linking information from multiple music databases is important for MIR because it provides a means to determine consistency of metadata between resources/services, which can help facilitate innovative product development and research. However, as yet, no open access tools exist that persistently link and validate metadata resources at the three main entities of music data: artist, release, and track. This paper introduces an open access resource which attempts to address the issue of linking information from multiple music databases. The General Recorded Audio Identity Linker (GRAIL - api.digitalmusiclab.org) is a music metadata ID-linking API that: i) connects International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) to music metadata IDs from services such as MusicBrainz, Spotify, and Last.FM; ii) provides these ID linkages as a publicly available resource; iii) confirms linkage accuracy using continuous metadata crawling from music-service APIs; and iv) derives consistency values (CV) for linkages by means of a set of quantifiable criteria. To date, more than 35M tracks, 8M releases, and 900K artists from 16 services have been ingested into GRAIL. We discuss the challenges faced in past attempts to link music metadata, the methods and rationale which we adopted in order to construct GRAIL and to ensure it remains updated with validated information.

Intuitive Navigation in Computer Applications for People with Parkinsons

Research is reported concerning the development of intuitive navigation within a music-dance application designed for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Following a review of current research into the use of motion-sensing cameras in therapeutic contexts, we describe the method by which a relatively low-cost motion-sensing camera was coupled with a rotatable function menu. The rotatable element of the system enabled navigation of the entire menu using only two, readily performable and distinct gestures: side-swipe for function browsing; down-swipe for function selecting. To aid acceptance amongst the target audience, people with PD (who tend to be relatively elderly), the rotatable function menu was rendered as a ballerina jewelry box, with appropriate texturing and music-box style musical accompaniment. Menu implementation employed a game engine, and a software development kit allowed direct access to the camera’s functionality, enabling gesture recognition. For example, users’ side-swipe gestures spun the jewelry box (as if interacting with an object in the real world) until a desired function, presented on each facet of the box, was forward facing. Also described are features and settings, designed to ensure safe and effective use of the application, and help maintain user motivation and interest.