- Jan 7, 2002
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Calm mind creates complex tunes
By Jo Twist
BBC News Online technology reporter
Scientists already know that music can affect a person's physiological state, inducing excitement or relaxation.
But researchers have turned the idea on its head with a system that composes music based on how relaxed a person is.
The application, under development at MIT's Media Lab Europe, uses biometrics to control what the listener hears.
As the listener relaxes more, different instruments start to play. The system could be employed as a useful stress-management application in the future.
State of Nirvana
"The project is based around the idea of drifting deeper into music according to a positive biometric state,¿ said Phil McDarby, research associate with the Mind Games groups at the Dublin labs.
"The piece consists of seven distinct layers, including bass, piano, strings and flutes," he told BBC News Online.
"As the user relaxes the layers are peeled back and they drift deeper into the music."
Slipping on two biometrics onto the fingertips is the easy part. They detect specific changes in conductivity that happen - a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) - dependent upon a person's state.
The difficult part is concentrating on relaxing in order to "unlock" the seven different layers of the music, and some who have tried the system have only heard a bass line, indicating their stress management is ineffective.
Text
By Jo Twist
BBC News Online technology reporter
Scientists already know that music can affect a person's physiological state, inducing excitement or relaxation.
But researchers have turned the idea on its head with a system that composes music based on how relaxed a person is.
The application, under development at MIT's Media Lab Europe, uses biometrics to control what the listener hears.
As the listener relaxes more, different instruments start to play. The system could be employed as a useful stress-management application in the future.
State of Nirvana
"The project is based around the idea of drifting deeper into music according to a positive biometric state,¿ said Phil McDarby, research associate with the Mind Games groups at the Dublin labs.
"The piece consists of seven distinct layers, including bass, piano, strings and flutes," he told BBC News Online.
"As the user relaxes the layers are peeled back and they drift deeper into the music."
Slipping on two biometrics onto the fingertips is the easy part. They detect specific changes in conductivity that happen - a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) - dependent upon a person's state.
The difficult part is concentrating on relaxing in order to "unlock" the seven different layers of the music, and some who have tried the system have only heard a bass line, indicating their stress management is ineffective.
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