DeformTune: A Deformable XAI Music Prototype for Non-Musicians

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xu, Ziqing, Bryan-Kinns, Nick
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Xu, Ziqing
Bryan-Kinns, Nick
author_facet Xu, Ziqing
Bryan-Kinns, Nick
contents Many existing AI music generation tools rely on text prompts, complex interfaces, or instrument-like controls, which may require musical or technical knowledge that non-musicians do not possess. This paper introduces DeformTune, a prototype system that combines a tactile deformable interface with the MeasureVAE model to explore more intuitive, embodied, and explainable AI interaction. We conducted a preliminary study with 11 adult participants without formal musical training to investigate their experience with AI-assisted music creation. Thematic analysis of their feedback revealed recurring challenge--including unclear control mappings, limited expressive range, and the need for guidance throughout use. We discuss several design opportunities for enhancing explainability of AI, including multimodal feedback and progressive interaction support. These findings contribute early insights toward making AI music systems more explainable and empowering for novice users.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_00160
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DeformTune: A Deformable XAI Music Prototype for Non-Musicians
Xu, Ziqing
Bryan-Kinns, Nick
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
Many existing AI music generation tools rely on text prompts, complex interfaces, or instrument-like controls, which may require musical or technical knowledge that non-musicians do not possess. This paper introduces DeformTune, a prototype system that combines a tactile deformable interface with the MeasureVAE model to explore more intuitive, embodied, and explainable AI interaction. We conducted a preliminary study with 11 adult participants without formal musical training to investigate their experience with AI-assisted music creation. Thematic analysis of their feedback revealed recurring challenge--including unclear control mappings, limited expressive range, and the need for guidance throughout use. We discuss several design opportunities for enhancing explainability of AI, including multimodal feedback and progressive interaction support. These findings contribute early insights toward making AI music systems more explainable and empowering for novice users.
title DeformTune: A Deformable XAI Music Prototype for Non-Musicians
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.00160