In this paper, we describe a novel multimedia system for networked musical collaboration. Our system, called Monad, offers a 3D virtual environment that can be shared by multiple participants to collaborate remotely on a musical performance. With Monad, we explore how various features of this environment in relation to game mechanics, network architecture, and audiovisual aesthetics can be used to mitigate problems inherent to networked musical performance, such as time delays, data loss, and reduced agency of users. Finally, we describe the results of a series of qualitative user studies that illustrate the effectiveness of some of our design decisions with two separate versions of Monad.

Author Keywords: Networked music performance; virtual environments; game mechanics; audiovisual performance systems.

ACM Classification: H.5.5 [Information Interfaces and Presentation] Sound and Music Computing|Systems, H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation] User Interfaces|Auditory (non-speech) feedback, H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation] Multimedia Information Systems

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Cakmak, C., Camci, A., Forbes, A.G., Networked Virtual Environments as Collaborative Music Spaces, NIME'16, Brisbane, Australia, July 11th, 2016.