Abstract
AR Drum Circle, is an augmented reality (AR) platform we developed to facilitate a collaborative remote drumming experience. We explore the effects of virtual avatars that are rendered in a player’s view to provide the joy and sensation of co-present music creation. AR Drum Circle uses a head mounted AR display, providing players with visual effects to assist drummers in coordinating musical ideas while simultaneously using a latency-optimized remote collaboration service (JackTrip). AR Drum Circle helps overcome barriers in music collaboration introduced when using remote collaboration tools on their own, which typically do not support real-time video, lack spatial information, and volume control between players, all of which are important for in-person drum circles and music collaboration. This paper presents the results of several investigations: (1) analysis of an in-depth, free-form response survey of drumming communication provided by a small group of expert drummers, (2) observations and analysis of 20 videos of live drum circles, (3) a case study using the AR Drum Circle application in pairs of remotely located participants, and (4) a collaborative drumming case study using a popular networked conferencing application (Zoom). Findings suggest that substantial communicative information including facial expressions, hand-tracking, and eye-contact is lost when using AR alone. Findings also indicate that the AR Drum Circle application can make players less self-conscious and more willing to participate while playing drums improvisationally with others.
Publication
Hopkins Torin, Weng Suibi Che Chuan, Vanukuru Rishi, Wenzel Emma A., Banic Amy, Gross Mark D., Do Ellen Yi-Luen (2022), AR Drum Circle: Real-Time Collaborative Drumming in AR, , Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Vol. 3, Article 847284 (11 pages), online Aug 19, 2022, URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2022.847284, DOI=10.3389/frvir.2022.847284