Brushing Interface - DIY multi-touch interface for expressive gestural performance

This paper presents the design of the Brushing Interface, which aims to transform brushing gestures into a genuine and expressive musical/sonic performance. To achieve this, a hardware system consisting of a grid of 216 self-made force sensitive resistor(FSR) sensors and 8 piezo microphones was implemented, which enables high-fidelity gesture tracking and sound production closely tied with brushing gestures. The hardware system, including the sensor itself, was made in a DIY approach, which provides an economical and high-quality design strategy for implementing a multi-touch interface. Moreover, it is combined with a unique gesture mapping strategy that integrates multi-dimensional parameter mapping and continuous gesture tracking, enabling an expressive performance that is highly flexible to configure in various settings.