News
Jools Launches Gem Of A Concept To Light Up Lives | Kane Andrews | HMC Interactive | Drake Music | bibicHere's a write up of the recent official release of Visual Voice Pro as seen in the Western Morning News.
Volume Control | Kane Andrews | HMC Interactive | Drake Music | bibicWe now have volume control that works cross platform between windows XP and vista. It took about one week to make the software vista compatible at a framework level, but it will take longer to make all the interface elements working together.
Things That Version 1 Menu System Should Do | Kane Andrews | HMC Interactive | Drake Music | bibic1) Have simple copy protection by locking in to the USB microphone. (Online registration or serial number registration might be too complicated for many users)
2) The usb volume / sensitivity should be changeable in the settings somehow (This is possible on XP with an activx component I have, but it does not work in vista, and I have no clue how you would do it in vista)
3) There should be a settings screen where you select what monitor you want your games to appear on, screen 1, screen 2, mirror mode, etc etc as there will be different resolution setups.
4) The menu should be very simple to use, and should tell you what modules you have, and have a setup screen, and thats it.
5) Software should scan a folder and put all module files into the central menu
6) Software should be set up so that there is something global running underneath it, so that you could record / burn cds of audio session etc at a LATER DATE.
Background Research Into Tonal and Chromo Therapy | Kane Andrews | HMC Interactive | Drake Music | bibicOne of the main intentions of Visual Voice Pro is to benefit, aid and be used by people with learning disorders such as autism. The animated feedback given by the software provides the user with a visual stimulus that reacts to the noise and sounds created by their voice which they wouldn't get normally. This would then give the user a step up in terms of speech and language development and allow them to move onto further stages that they may not have been able to reach easily.
Our project for Media Sandbox is to develop an extension to VVP whichadds an extra dimension to both the learning development capabilites and the thereputical nature of the software (especially when it is used within an immersive sensory room).
With this new module, a unique audiogram is created for the individual user through a third party therapist who specializes in tonal therapy. Audiograms (often used as a physiological hearing test evoking certain brain responses to map hearing loss at different frequencies that helps show any issues with understanding language and speech.) These would result in both a series of tones and quantative data. These tones would then be passed on to Drake Music, who would then, for example, compose a piece using the tones as the scales of the music. At the moment this is quite open as there are many possibilities with how the music can be created, and even perhaps composed dynamically using the quantative data given from the audiogram results.On top of this, we will be looking at using chromotherapy - the idea of "colour and light being able to bring about emotional reactions in people.
Introduction To Cyber Therapy | Kane Andrews | HMC Interactive | Drake Music | bibicAs part of the Media Sandbox project, HMC Interactive will develop cyber therapy based software to help benefit children with learning disorders which could be used in specialised sensory rooms. The software would stimulate the user by giving visual feedback to sounds (such as their own voice or an instrument) in an aesthetically pleasing form which they would not normally have in everyday life.
Research begins on tonal therapy.Using quantative data such as audiograms, music will be produced that would relate to the tones and frequency involved in the specific requirements of the user which would benefit their tonal therapy and progression. On top of the aural based stimulation, graphic visualisations would also appear in the sensory room which react to the noises and sounds given off, providing two beneficial types of feedback.
