Abstract
Music activities have been shown to enhance the self-development and social participation of individuals with disabilities, yet current assistive technologies and devices are unable to provide them with a satisfactory music experience. This paper presents a design workshop aimed at exploring innovative ways for blind or deaf people to better perceive, perform and create music, as well as a workshop approach to design innovative music installations through co-creation activities. The three-week workshop included an ice-breaking and team-building week, an ideation and co-creation week, and a final week for prototyping, testing, and showcasing. Multidisciplinary teams were formed and a group of deaf and blind advisors were deeply involved in all the workshop stages. The paper highlights five outcomes of the workshop that address the research questions through three angles: enhancing music perception through multi-sensory experiences, supporting music expression through embodied interfaces and evaluating inclusive and interdisciplinary co-creation. The participants gave positive feedback and constructive insights in the follow-up survey, which will assist us to optimize the workshop organization and process, with the aim of fostering more effective and inclusive collaborative design innovations that benefit a diverse range of communities.
Keywords
co-creation workshop; accessibility; inclusiveness; music installation
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.264
Citation
Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J.,and Li, Z.(2023) Inclusive harmonies: Co-creating accessible music experiences with deaf or blind advisors through interdisciplinary design workshop, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.264
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Inclusive harmonies: Co-creating accessible music experiences with deaf or blind advisors through interdisciplinary design workshop
Music activities have been shown to enhance the self-development and social participation of individuals with disabilities, yet current assistive technologies and devices are unable to provide them with a satisfactory music experience. This paper presents a design workshop aimed at exploring innovative ways for blind or deaf people to better perceive, perform and create music, as well as a workshop approach to design innovative music installations through co-creation activities. The three-week workshop included an ice-breaking and team-building week, an ideation and co-creation week, and a final week for prototyping, testing, and showcasing. Multidisciplinary teams were formed and a group of deaf and blind advisors were deeply involved in all the workshop stages. The paper highlights five outcomes of the workshop that address the research questions through three angles: enhancing music perception through multi-sensory experiences, supporting music expression through embodied interfaces and evaluating inclusive and interdisciplinary co-creation. The participants gave positive feedback and constructive insights in the follow-up survey, which will assist us to optimize the workshop organization and process, with the aim of fostering more effective and inclusive collaborative design innovations that benefit a diverse range of communities.