Appropriating Biosensors as Embodied Control Structures in Interactive Music Systems

Abstract

We present a scoping review of biosensors appropriation as control structures in interactive music systems (IMSs). Technical and artistic dimensions promoted by transdisciplinary approaches, ranging from biomedicine to musical performance and interaction design fields, support a taxonomy for biosensor-driven IMSs. A broad catalog of 70 biosensor-driven IMSs, ranging in publication dates from 1965 to 2019, was compiled and categorized according to the proposed taxonomy. From the catalog data, we extrapolated representative historical trends, notably to critically verify our working hypothesis that biosensing technologies are expanding the array of control structures within IMSs. Observed data show that our hypothesis is consistent with the historical evolution of the biosensor-driven IMSs. From our findings, we advance future challenges for novel means of control across humans and machines that should ultimately transform the agents involved in interactive music creation to form new corporalities in extended performative settings.