Playing the Virtual Glass Armonica

The continuation of research and technological advances within the field of virtual reality (VR) and haptics, further facilitates new interaction opportunities, which can be created for virtual reality musical instruments (VRMIs). Integrated in a museum setting, this can allow for new ways for both users and scholars to interact with, and learn about, musical artifacts, which otherwise would be contained behind glass cases. In this paper, the authors design and implement a virtual Glass Armonica, synthesized with the FAUST Physical Modeling ToolKit, to be played with the wearable haptic interface, WeArt TouchDiver; providing force-, temperature- and vibrotactile feedback to enhance playability. This is done with the purpose of providing an immersive cultural experience in a historically accurate virtual environment (VE), for the visitors at the Danish Music Museum in Copenhagen.