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Psychophysiological States as Compositional Material: Biosensors and Artificial Intelligence in Musical Performance
Conservatorio G. Verdi, Como & MMT Creative Lab, Milano
The research lies at the intersection of electronic music, live performance, and intelligent interactive systems. It arises from a reflection on the role of instruments in performance practice: designing or adopting a technological device does not only mean equipping oneself with an operational tool, but also assuming a specific mode of perception, action, and organization of the sound experience. In this sense, the instrument can be configured as an extension of the performer's body and, at the same time, as an agent capable of redefining its expressive possibilities.
Within this framework, the integration of biometric technologies into musical performance is not considered a simple problem of signal acquisition and processing, but rather an aesthetic, relational, and compositional issue. The critical point from which the project starts concerns the risk that the musician's psychophysiological states (such as stress, hyperconcentration, attention, or performance anxiety) are reduced to mere numerical inputs, producing a sonification of data rather than an authentic musical elaboration of embodied experience.
Starting from this issue, the research centers on two main questions: how can the performer's psychophysiological states become active expressive material and co-determine the sound composition in real time? And to what degree can a technological system be designed not as a control interface, but as a co-creative partner, capable of introducing deviations, variations, and forms of unpredictability that are musically significant?
The system currently being designed combines biosensors (in particular EEG, ECG/HRV, and GSR) with affective computing models for real-time inference and classification of psychophysiological states, and with sound generation strategies based on MIDI/OSC protocols in live environments. Experimental performances with MMT Creative Lab serve simultaneously as artistic production and research occasions.
This is a research in progress. The system, the questions, and the outputs are still taking shape.
Related:
SMALL AI: modelli locali come pratica di liuteria digitale — paper & talk at SPaMEC 2026, Napoli Elettronica, Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella, Napoli, May 2026. (forthcoming publication)