From the Speculative to the Tangible: How Can AI Tools Enable Greater Access to Bespoke and Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs)?

Dr. Hugh Aynsley, Dr. Dave Meckin, Dr. Catherine Warner, Prof. Thomas J. Mitchell, University of the West of England, UK

​This research considers the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to facilitate the development of new prototypes of Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) with Disabled musicians. ADMIs provide critical opportunities for Disabled musicians to overcome barriers to music-making yet the design and development of bespoke ADMIs is often a long process which can use a lot of resources (Frid, 2020). This paper explores how AI technologies, specifically text-to-image (TTI) generators, could support and streamline this process, thereby enabling more people to co-design their own bespoke musical instruments.  
 
Through speculative design workshops with instrument designers, Disabled musicians and academics, we investigate how AI tools can be integrated into the co-design process of new interfaces. The approach has been developed through several iterative workshops that explore the integration of generative AI into the creative process, particularly focusing on idea generation and how AI tools can be useful instigators for new bespoke solutions. 
 
This presentation highlights a study conducted as part of Drake Music's ‘Accessible Instrument Design Workshop’ in July 2023. It offers insights from the workshop, emphasising on the integration of speculative design activities with AI concept development, alongside the build of craft mock-ups for the resulting instrument ideas. The focus of the workshop was to test how useful GenAI TTI tools were for Disabled musicians looking to co-design their own musical instruments and how participatory tasks can be informed using AI tools. The process of designing and building bespoke ADMIs commonly rely on a collaboration between a Disabled musician and an instrument builder/designer (Harrison et al, 2017; Longden, 2019) so understanding how these tools are perceived and will be used by Disabled musicians is a central concern of this research.  
 
During the workshop, participants were invited to present their instruments to the group to discuss core concepts behind their new creations through an informal performance. Attendees were encouraged to demonstrate how the instrument would be played using craft mock-ups of their instruments, providing insights into their envisioned playing styles and the range of motion associated with each design. This paper revolves around reflexive thematic analysis of participants' experiences within the workshop setting and shares their approach to designing with AI tools.  
 
The presentation offers methods for integrating AI tools into speculative design workshops with Disabled musicians whilst examining how these emerging technologies can enhance access to custom-built instruments. Future work will involve the physical fabrication of the two-dimensional images generated during the workshops, and the initial prototypes of these instruments will be presented for further discussion.