The MIROR Project: Musical interaction relaying on reflexion

The MIROR project is an EU funded project under the 7th Framework programme (Technology-enhanced learning). The project is in its first year and so the aim of this presentation is to explain its background and rationale, describe the aims and structure and briefly introduce the technological aspects and the first eperimental protocol. The MIROR project aims to develop an innovative system for music learning and teaching in early childhood music education based on reflexive interaction. The system will act as an advanced ‘cognitive tutor’, designed to promote specific cognitive abilities in improvisation across the range of learning contexts that are characteristic of early years music learning (home, nursery, preschool etc). The reflexive interaction is based on the idea of allowing children to manipulate virtual copies of their own inputs, through specifically designed technology-learning software referred to as ‘interactive reflexive musical systems (IRMS). By definition IRMS are able to learn and configure themselves according to their understanding of the learner’s behaviour. In this project we intend to extend the IRMS with the analysis and synthesis of multisensory expressive gesture to increase the pedagogical potential for young children through a new multi-modal interface. The project is designed on a spiral structure involving coupled interactions between the technical partners (Sony, Paris and the University of Genoa) and the psycho-pedagogical partners (Universities of Bologna, Exeter, Gothenburg and Athens). The project integrates both psychological case-study experiments interested in the cognitive foundations of mirroring behaviours and the learning potential and effectiveness of the platform, and studies to develop the use of the new technologies in educational contexts. The Project includes an Advisory and Liaison Board made up of relevant associations and individual members who are particularly interested to be privileged observers of the activities and have the experience and competence to provide, in the course of the project, an objective evaluation of the partial achievements and a collaboration in pedagogical settings. MERYC is part of the ALB and will be involved notably in the pedagogical experiments.