Beyond Brass Performance: Exploring the Integration of Non-Intrusive Human-Computer Interfaces (NIHCI) in Trombone

Abstract

Beyond Brass Performance: Exploring the Integration of Non-Intrusive Human-Computer Interfaces (NIHCI) in Trombone addresses the challenge of integrating attachable tangible user interfaces (TUIs) into brass performance without hindering conventional playability. While advances in instrument augmentation have expanded the expressive boundaries of acoustic instruments, many existing implementations remain bespoke or artist-specific, limiting their generalizability across performers and contexts. This dissertation asks how attachable interfaces can bridge embodied trombone performance practice with digital and cyber-physical environments.

In its broader scope, this study establishes a performer-centered methodology for the design and evaluation of NIHCI. Non-intrusiveness is conceptualized not as a purely mechanical constraint, but as a multidimensional design condition encompassing physical ergonomics, cognitive load, perceptual thresholds, and affective response. From this perspective, technological augmentation is understood not merely as a tool for experimentation, but as a means of extending the instrument itself in an ecologically valid way. The study therefore proposes a structured NIHCI framework to guide performers, interface designers, and composers in the creation of TUIs that extend musical performance beyond acoustic sound while remaining integrated with established trombone practice.

The methodology comprises a sequential, three-phase explanatory mixed-methods design guided by ISO 9241-210 principles for human-centered design. Synthesizing these findings, the dissertation introduces a three-layer NIHCI design framework comprising (1) a Perceived Intrusiveness Index (PII) defining empirically bounded upper limits, (2) an affective interaction model addressing experiential qualities of interaction, including tactile feel, size, and visual integration, and (3) physical-cognitive viability constraints in relation to placement, control density, and mass thresholds. For the evaluation stage, the study developed an NIHCI-based prototype to evaluate the proposed framework, yielding consistently low intrusiveness ratings.

The dissertation concludes with At Your Fingertips, a multimodal composition that operationalizes the NIHCI framework within a co-creative cyber-physical environment. Functioning as an artistic evaluation, the work demonstrates how NIHCI telemetry supports gesture classification, corpus-based audio interaction, and score-level control. Together, the framework, prototype evaluation, and artistic validation provide transferable guidelines for designing non-intrusive interfaces that invite performers and composers to reimagine brass performance between acoustic places and cyber-physical spaces.