Jonah’s helpers - let the music play
The beauty of music is that it can unify the mind and soul! It affects our personality, our creativity, our drive. Furthermore, creating music through instruments improves motor and reasoning skills, even improves visual attention. Yet those who may benefit from interacting with musical instruments the most may find their opportunities limited.
Therefore, we were given the opportunity to interact with and design for Jonah, a child with unique needs from Stone Spring Elementary School. Creating a musical device so that they may be included into musical situation where they may have otherwise had limited opportunity.
Our design for Jonah was a sensory piano cover where each key had a different texture. Jonah had a limited attention span, but anything that appealed to his sense of touch, he loved! Our piano cover device would glide through the piano keys and would make it exciting for Jonah to make music! Placed on a school piano, the device would play dyads and chords when two or more keys were played.
Overall.
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What
Using the human-centered design process to design and fabricate a musical instrument for Jonah, a student with a genetic disorder that affects his attention span.
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How
Designing a musical device that appeals to his sense of touch in a manner that keeps him engaged while keeping ‘ease of use’ at the forefront of the design.
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Results
3D printed piano cover featured 6 keys, each with different vibrant materials and feels on the area to press and with a different shape. Jonah enjoyed the musical device so much, he did not let anyone touch it!
Meeting jonah.
This picture was taken by JMU MADE Engineering, where we met with our designated student to have them play with various instruments, toys, materials, and other items to get a better understanding of their interests and strengths. Jonah particularly enjoyed playing with felt strings and scratching on a turntable!