Vibrotactile enhancement of musical engagement

Abstract

Sound is sensed by the ear but can also be felt on the skin, by means of vibrotactile stimulation. Although previous studies have addressed audio-tactile perception for music, the underlying perceptual dimensions of vibrotactile enhancement of music listening remain poorly understood. Here, 41 listeners were presented with vibrotactile stimuli via a chair’s four surfaces (left and right arm rests, back rest, seat surface) in addition to music presented over headphones. Vibrations were driven by different tracks of the music for each surface (multi condition) or conjointly by a mono-rendering (mono condition), in addition to incongruent and headphones-only conditions. Listeners evaluated excerpts of popular music on six scales, probing valence, arousal, groove, the feeling of being part of a live performance, the feeling of being part of the music, and liking. Results indicated that the multi-and mono vibration conditions robustly enhanced the nature of the musical experience compared to headphones alone, but both did not differ significantly from each other. They particularly enhanced the key latent dimension of ‘musical engagement’, encompassing the sense of being a part of the music, arousal, and groove. These findings highlight the specific role of vibrotactile cues in creating intensive musical experiences.