Skip to main content

Conducting music research through VR experimentation 

Category
HELIX Case Studies
Date

Jingnan Xu is a musician and a postgraduate research student in the School of Psychology. She is currently conducting research to understand the skills acquired by pianists and other musicians when using immersive technologies. Jingnan hopes to eventually develop a mixed reality platform for users to play and practice piano. 

Location: HELIX XR Classroom (VR headsets and omnideck) Virtual reality piano software

Aims: Conduct primary research using VR music software.

Impact: Jingnan has been able to conduct practical research for her studies.

Why did you choose HELIX for your project? 

‘’I make daily use of the excellent facilities and workspaces which HELIX offers. HELIX provides a friendly and relaxed working environment with various desks and rooms to facilitate successful learning. This makes HELIX the perfect environment to conduct research for my projects. I spend my time learning and practicing VR development in the XR classroom to conduct my primary research. I also use the quiet study spaces to conduct secondary research by reading papers and articles.’’ 

How did working in HELIX help you to achieve your aims? 

‘’One of my aims is to develop an extended reality platform for musicians such as pianists to practise and play the piano. The facilities available in the HELIX XR classroom have allowed me to research and explore current VR music platforms to gain inspiration for the development of my own personal ideas. Another one of my aims is to conduct academic research which will map out the skillset and behaviours which musicians portray through their musical performance. This has been made easy and more possible through the facilities and technology readily available at HELIX.’’ 

 Do you have any advice to share from your HELIX experience?  

‘‘I would recommend trying the extended reality technologies available at HELIX such as the VR headsets and the 360 omnideck. HELIX runs weekly gaming sessions where you can try out these technologies which is fun! I would also recommend speaking to other students and staff who use the facilities at HELIX, it is a very good opportunity to network and befriend like-minded people at the university.’’