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Examining Gesture Production in the Presence of Communication Challenges
Published on: January 26, 2024
Revealing personhood through biomusic of individuals without communicative interaction ability
Stefanie Blain1, Patricia McKeever
1University of Toronto and Bloorview Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. sblain@umich.edu
Abstract:
An increasing number of people are unable to engage in communicative interactions because of their inability to move, speak, and control traditional augmentative and alternative communication devices. According to social interactionist theory, the existence of the human self hinges on successful interaction with others; consequently, those who cannot interact are at risk of not being accorded personhood. This article is a request for research towards the development of technologies that would give caregivers access to the autonomic physiological signals of individuals who are unable to communicate. It explores the hypothesis that meaningful manifestation of signals that change according to mental and emotional states will reveal individual personhood. We hypothesize that music is ideally suited as the basis of interaction with this population, and that physiologically driven musical expression is a form of individual biomusic that can enrich social interaction.
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