Mini-Seesaws and Haptics

I have been branching off from the idea of a seesaw, or small balance that the user would use to create musical sounds based on it's position. Here are some of the possibilities I have been exploring - all of which could be pursued in further depth.

 Ideally, there would be a number of these small seesaw controllers that a user could use for a polyphonic performance of sorts. Each seesaw could involve a slider to add another degree of freedom, or a mass that might shift loosely. Another option is to design the instrument to be played by two people - taking on a collaborative, or adversarial nature.

While looking for related work I stumbled across this video, which is not a music controller, but is an elegant example of robotics. It gave me the idea to potentially incorporate a rolling ball that the user positions by moving the balance.

No matter what form the seesaw aspect takes, I hope to incorporate some form of haptics into its design. "Haptic" comes from the word touch, and in the context of interactive systems,  haptics is any force, vibration or motions applied to the user. The method I plan on pursuing has been used in other haptic musical controllers, such as The Plank, which uses dynamic force feedback to create a tactile topography. In other words, as one moves the device, it simulates the feeling of plucking strings or pushing over bumpy surface. This effect is created by selectively applying force against, and along with the motion of the user. For example, if there is a sudden discontinuity in the applied force, jumping from a positive extreme to a negative extreme, the simulated action will present itself as a pluck (see The Plank for more information). Some other notable examples of haptic controllers include the Phantom and the Novint Falcon.

Incorporating haptics into my seesaw controller would hopefully allow the user to develop a more intimate relationship with the feeling of the system, fostering a sense of control while building a difficulty curve into the learning on the instrument. It would be interesting to see how incorporating force-feedback into a seesaw motion might provide a musical interaction.