1. Block Jam: A Tangible Interface for Interactive Music Michael Curry

2. What is Block Jam? Designed by Sony CSL in early 2000’s A tangible interface for sequencing music Composed of functional units called Blocks

3. What was the goal of Block Jam? Designed to allow inexperienced users to manipulate music Designed to encourage a cooperative musical experience Designed for entertainment, not as a music design tool

4. What does it look like?

5. How does it work? Each block has function and sound clip associated with it. Blocks connect to sequencing software on an attached computer Computer interprets the block organization to play the designed music

6. User Reception User studies showed that users found the device highly entertaining Studies found the device encouraged cooperation in musical design Users found the device easy to understand

7. Conclusion Sony CSL considers the design successful A vivid example of a tangible interface design No recent work on the project in recent years

8. Sources Newton-Dunn, Henry, Hiroaki Nakano, and James Gibson. "Block Jam: A Tangible Interface for Interactive Music." Proceeding NIME '03 Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (2003): 170-77. ACM Digital Library. ACM, Inc, 22 May 2003. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.