Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
DEtErMINING UsEr
PErcEPtIONs OF MUsIc
Information from the user is arguably the most
useful data that can be acquired in determining the
context of the user. This allows the researcher to
begin to investigate factors such as their level of
activity, stress levels, emotional state, for example.
We propose mechanisms such as skin conductivity,
motion and heart rate data that might be acquired
directly from the user and would prove particularly
useful in monitoring their contextual state.
Factors in the environment around the user
are likely to have an effect on their performance
in a game, their general attitudes, and their emo-
tional state. A number of metrics can provide
suitable input to a software system to estimate
environmental context. Environmental informa-
tion includes the amount of ambient noise, light
levels, time of day and year, temperature and so
forth. We feel that the devices and information
in this scenario are relevant to many contextual
extraction applications, not only those of digital
entertainment and games.
Hopefully, the reader can begin to gain an
insight into the usefulness of contextual informa-
tion from the examples and discussions in this
section of the chapter. The next section of this
chapter seeks to exemplify how context (as well
as emotion and content) can be employed in digi-
tal multimedia applications, especially those that
relate to sound. We feel that, in computer games,
the virtual gameplay environment can be tailored
to reflect the real environment of the player. In all,
this will provide a deeper, more immersive experi-
ence: this will help the player to develop greater
emotional and personal investment in the game. It
will also be interesting to see if such a game can
contribute to altering the emotional state of the
user and impact upon their own personal context.
For example, can games be designed that would
relax a user, reduce their stress levels and heart
rate, and even make them alter their surrounding
environment to reflect their new, calmer state?
Only through more contextual awareness and
pervasive interactions with games will we know
the answer to this question and others.
In this section of the chapter, we aim to gain more
of an insight into how emotion, content and con-
text are attached to music by human listeners. By
investigating the various perceptions and semantic
terms users relate to different musical genres, it is
possible to gain a deeper understanding of the ways
in which humans relate their emotions, musical
content and the context of different types of music.
Wide ranges of semantics are frequently
employed to portray musical characteristics and
range from technically-related terms to experi-
ential narratives (Károlyi, 1999). It is proposed
that the characteristics of a piece of music are
difficult to quantify in a single term or statement.
Whilst high-level abstractions may be possible
that categorise the music or provide an overview
of the timbre, this is a highly subjective and in-
dividual (and potentially emotionally influenced)
expression of a listener's experience of the music.
Such an investigation also allows groupings to
be applied to terms, understanding to be formed
and a mapping of the relationships between these
groups to be formed.
repertory Grid technique
In order to extract common descriptive features
and semantics that are most meaningful and
globally understood, it is better to employ a
technique where the listener subject may employ
their own descriptions of the elements under
investigation. George Kelly's work (1955) into
personal construct theory (PCT)
and
personal
construct psychology (PCP)
provides a suitable
mechanism, known as repertory grid analysis,
by which such descriptions can be elicited from
subjects, correlated and employed in measure-
ment subject experiences. Kelly's work in this
area is grounded in principles of
constructivism
,
where subjects identify and deal with the world
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