Phil Ellis University of Warwick aerac@dredd.csv.warwick.ac.uk

CARESS

Recent work in movement sensors and other technology has used various electronic media to create human-machine interfaces. The educational potential of these appears to be significant, but so far has remained largely unexplored. The i3 project CARESS (Creating Aesthetically Resonant Environments in Sound) will develop some new devices in this area, and explore their educational potential in a number of mainstream schools in England and Sweden.

The purpose of CARESS is to enable young children to learn and develop physical and cognitive skills by interacting with a responsive sound environment. The project is centred on the Soundbeam, a sensor-to-sound interface which converts physical gesture into sound. In combination with two new sensors, which will complement Soundbeam’s own ultrasonic spatial sensor, it will provide a means for exploring expressive interaction with and creative use of sound in an open and enjoyable setting.

Technology

Two types of sensor are being developed for use with the Soundbeam system, both based on technology developed for a medical application (Bateman et al. 1996): the 'muscle' sensor and the 'joint' sensor. From pads placed on the skin, the muscle sensor detects the electrical activity of contractions. These contractions can be sensitive enough to pick up the intention to move, even when the contraction itself is insufficient to cause visible movement; this is an invaluable facility for some of the special needs children in the project. The joint sensor detects more pronounced movements of limbs by measuring the angle across a joint; it uses an optical fibre the properties of which change upon bending. The joint sensor will be used mostly in mainstream schools, and contain a radio transmitter which will enable wire-free movement around the play-space, giving children the greatest possible freedom for expression.

Amanda, of the Labert Special School, in a Soundbeam special

Signal processing will further enhance the potential for control of the sound environment. A sound palette will allow children to select intuitively a particular type of sound, and smoothly change its properties with a wave of their hand; this dispenses with pre-set sounds on a synthesiser. By intelligently combining the signals from a number of sensors, the signal processor will also enable children to interact sonically with each other. Schemes will be devised that give each child control over an aspect of the sound, such that collaboration is not enforced but, if chosen, will enhance the musical experience. For example, one child might control the chord type (major, minor, minor 7th, and so on), another might control the root note of the chord, while a third child controls some quality of the sound.

The Users

Given the flexibility afforded by this technology, the CARESS team wants to involve the children themselves as much as possible in the process of designing sound play environments. Collaboration with teachers and classroom assistants is also central to the project, and most of the staff in the schools that take part have been involved both in the early planning and in instruction on how to use the Soundbeam equipment. The children have also played an active role in exploring the Soundbeam, both during and outside class time. Children in the 4–11 years age range have been invited to describe their experience of CARESS work, to tell us about their expectations and ideas, and to offer suggestions for future activities.

Two schools in England are part of the research environment. The Lambert Special School in Stratford-upon-Avon and Beaudesert St.Mary’s R.C. Primary in Henley-in-Arden have already forged links in the past through curriculum subjects, shared visits and joint arts productions. The CARESS project has enabled both schools to maintain their relationship and develop further bonds.

• The Lambert School caters for approximately 80 children from 2 – 19 years of age with a range of disabilities. The school has been involved in the development of sound therapy from the very beginning. Teachers, classroom assistants, physiotherapists and speech therapists have all contributed to this development, and parents also take a keen interest. Children with severe learning difficulties (SDL) and profound multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) have been instrumental in developing the approach.

• Beaudesert St.Mary’s is a small community primary school with three classes and 67 pupils on roll. As the CARESS project has only eighteen months in which to accomplish its goals this school seemed an ideal choice. The chosen group of children are in the 4–6 age range. Some of these children will be with the same teacher for the life of the project. Beaudesert St. Mary’s is very much a family school, and staff and children are encouraged to form an understanding of the work of all members of the school community.

The research work in Sweden is centred on two schools, but also includes two individual pupils from other schools, one boy with cognitive and motor activity difficulties and a seven–year–old girl with severe Attention Deficit complex of problems.

• Tusenskönan, situated in Landskrona, is a Montessori–based school which has 120 children from 4–11 years of age. The classes are mixed–age and the curriculum centres on ‘creative learning’. Children in the six–to–eight age range are actively involved in the CARESS project.

• Emaljskolan, also in Landskrona, is a special school catering for people from 7–21 years of age with a range of disabilities. Here, two eight–year–old girls with PMLD have been selected to work with the CARESS researcher. The research programme involves physiotherapists, occupational therapists and educational assistants.

Children from St. Mary's R.C. Primary playing Catch

CARESS people

Phil Ellis of the Institute of Education, University of Warwick, UK is project co–ordinator of CARESS. He is assisted by Lisa Percy. The Warwick team will conduct a pilot study applying the Sound Therapy methodology, developed in Warwick for children with special educational needs (Ellis 1994, 1997), in both special needs and mainstream schools. Working in parallel as a therapeutic educator is Stefan Hasselblad, Emaljskolan, who has already used the Soundbeam in his work with special needs children in Sweden. He will also run trials of materials produced by Warwick at the two Swedish schools. Nishan Canagarajah, assisted by Paul Masri at the University of Bristol in England, will provide new sensors as well as hardware and software technology support.

Focus and outcome

The final 'products' of CARESS will include new technology combined with a model for collaborative learning, developed hand–in–hand through iterative feedback. The new sensor technology with its wireless interface promises complete freedom of movement as children express themselves in sound, and the Sound Palette will encourage fluidity of thinking and imaginative exploration. The Sound Therapy methodology will give the technology a firm grounding as an educational tool, and the curriculum material, developed in Warwick and tested further in Sweden, will provide thorough educational support and validity.

By involving teachers, classroom assistants and children in the early planning and exploratory stages of the CARESS research, the focus of the project will be clearly centred around their actual needs, and the very real possibilities for developing an exciting new dimension to curricular and extra–curricular activity.

By creating new possibilities through technological development, and placing these within an educational environment that is aesthetic, creative and imaginative as well as rigorous, CARESS will contribute to the Esprit goal of helping children to think, be creative, and express themselves.

Visit CARESS soon at www.bris.ac.uk/caress/

References

Bateman et al. (1996) EC TIDE Project No. 1250: FESTIVAL (Functional Electrical Stimulation to Improve Value And Lifestyle). Partners: University of Bristol (UK), BEAC (Italy), BMR Ltd. (Ireland), NcMS (Belgium).

Ellis, P. (1997).The music of sound: a new approach for children with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. In: The British Journal of Music Education, 14:2, 173–186.

Ellis, P. (1996). Layered analysis: A video–based qualitative research tool to support the development of a new approach for children with special needs. In: the Bulletin for the Council for Research in Music Education, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, USA, 130, 65–74.

Ellis, P. (1994). Special sounds for special needs: towards the development of a sound therapy. In: Musical Connections: Tradition and Change, the publication of the XXIst ISME world conference proceedings, 201–206.