Preliminary Findings from BehCreative: Exploring the Potential of Extended Digital Music Instruments for Music Therapy and Rehabilitation

Abstract

The usefulness of traditional musical instruments has already been demonstrated in music therapy and rehabilitation. In recent years, virtual reality systems have also been shown to promote good cognitive and motor rehabilitation results.Nevertheless, there are still fewstudies joining these things. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the application potential of an Extended DigitalMusical Instrument (EDMI), BehCreative, in those areas, focusing on its ability to promote engagement, motivation, and confidence among users. For this, Gibson’s concept of affordance to study users’ creative behavior was used. Three healthy subjects participated in this study. Virtual Affordances (VAs) used by users during an exploratory phase and their Motion Development (jerk) were measured, and they answered the Affective Sliders self-assessment questionnaire. The results indicate a positive impact of BehCreative on emotional reactions, physical activities, and creative learning, opening avenues for future research and practical applications in the fields of motor learning and human-computer interaction in music therapy and rehabilitation.