Accessible Virtual Reality Musical Instruments: Facilitating Inclusion and Accessibility in Design, 2020-2023

The growing diversity of digital technologies adapted and adopted for disabled musicians reflects an evolving social ecosystem of inclusive music making with an expanding toolset of accessible musical instruments utilised by a group of disability allies. This thesis is an ethnographic study, qualitative in construct and embedded in third wave Human Computer Interaction research practice. It examines how immersive technology and its ecosystem of artefacts and toolsets, can be utilised as a bedrock for inclusive research practice with accessibility for both disabled musicians and Access Music Tutors as its core value. It is also artistic practice as research, situating the author within two facilitated community music programmes hosted by charity and research partner Drake Music Northern Ireland. The author introduces prototype accessible virtual reality musical instruments, and methods for controlling the virtual musical environment to an experienced group of physically disabled musicians of The Wired Ensemble, and to a community music outreach programme with novice musicians attending the charity Brain Injury Matters. This thesis documents how Accessible Virtual Reality Musical Instruments were prototyped, trialled, and evaluated using an inclusive methodology of two technology probes followed by a participatory design study. Knowledge sharing is key to understanding usable affordances of the embodied musician embedded within a unique, complex, and versatile system adopting the Oculus Quest 2 as an accessible digital musical instrument. Independency of virtual environment control is guided by the principle of Centred Control enabling three disabled participant musicians to select, manipulate and perform virtual musical instruments using ability-based design. Participant musicians organise their own performance space using hand recognition and head orientated selection techniques for accurate and meaningful musical instrument actioning. Co-location of physical surfaces and assistive technologies are used as aids to virtual artefact control and performance. Designing within the context of interdependent music making within facilitated accessible music workshops proved a stable and nurturing platform for participants, enabling confidence, trust and meaningful music making towards goals of wellbeing, musicality, and public performance.

The growing diversity of digital technologies adapted and adopted for disabled musicians reflects an evolving social ecosystem of inclusive music making with an expanding toolset of accessible musical instruments utilised by a group of disability allies. This thesis is an ethnographic study, qualitative in construct and embedded in third wave Human Computer Interaction research practice. It examines how immersive technology and its ecosystem of artefacts and toolsets, can be utilised as a bedrock for inclusive research practice with accessibility for both disabled musicians and Access Music Tutors as its core value. It is also artistic practice as research, situating the author within two facilitated community music programmes hosted by charity and research partner Drake Music Northern Ireland. The author introduces prototype accessible virtual reality musical instruments, and methods for controlling the virtual musical environment to an experienced group of physically disabled musicians of The Wired Ensemble, and to a community music outreach programme with novice musicians attending the charity Brain Injury Matters. This thesis documents how Accessible Virtual Reality Musical Instruments were prototyped, trialled, and evaluated using an inclusive methodology of two technology probes followed by a participatory design study. Knowledge sharing is key to understanding usable affordances of the embodied musician embedded within a unique, complex, and versatile system adopting the Oculus Quest 2 as an accessible digital musical instrument. Independency of virtual environment control is guided by the principle of Centred Control enabling three disabled participant musicians to select, manipulate and perform virtual musical instruments using ability-based design. Participant musicians organise their own performance space using hand recognition and head orientated selection techniques for accurate and meaningful musical instrument actioning. Co-location of physical surfaces and assistive technologies are used as aids to virtual artefact control and performance. Designing within the context of interdependent music making within facilitated accessible music workshops proved a stable and nurturing platform for participants, enabling confidence, trust and meaningful music making towards goals of wellbeing, musicality, and public performance.