Design and Evaluation of an Interactive Art Installation to Introduce 'de novo' Mutations to Different Audiences: "Music Within" Project


Bozlak E., ACAR A. C., SÜRER E.

4th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good, Bologna, Italy, 28 - 30 November 2018, pp.82-87 identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume:
  • Doi Number: 10.1145/3284869.3284883
  • City: Bologna
  • Country: Italy
  • Page Numbers: pp.82-87
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Installation projects are frequently used in education as they are functional in explaining complex scientific concepts by making them intuitive. Mutation is such a scientific concept-mostly misunderstood by those lacking a scientific background. The "Music Within" project explains the term "mutation" via an art installation which combines music and Light Emitting Diode (LED) signals. In the project, 'de novo' mutations, which are specific to an individual, are used in order to create music and light signals. Genomic positions of mutations from 5 different individuals were placed on a "virtual" guitar string and the corresponding frequency values were converted to sound and Red-Green-Blue (RGB) values. The comprehensibility of the system was tested using a short questionnaire which was applied to 92 volunteers from different backgrounds and age groups. Questions from System Usability Scale (SUS) and EGameFlow were used in the survey to measure user-friendliness. Survey results show that age or having different backgrounds do not affect the comprehensibility of the system and explaining the mutation concept using art installations is helpful and engaging.