Virtual Orchestra: Serious Games Teach Players How To Conduct

Via: Nanyang Technology University

The Virtual Orchestra system brings gaming to another level by incorporating multi-disciplinery technologies such as pattern recognition, 3D graphics and artificial intelligence in games to allow users to conduct a virtual music ensemble by means of their hand movements in an immersive environment. It is aimed at introducing kids and adults alike to the fun of music conducting with the potential to be a training tool for aspiring conductors.

The game-play allows users to change performance characteristics, such as tempo and dynamics of the music piece in real time. With customizable music, environments and virtual musicians, the virtual orchestra allows Various skill levels to be mapped to different complexities in the hand movements so as to suit the expertise of the user (e.g. from a beginner to an experienced conductor) and a virtual audience that 'listens' to the resulting performance to express their different levels of appreciation at the end of the session.