Rhythmic Interaction for Song Filtering on a Mobile Device

This paper describes a mobile implementation of song filtering using rhythmic interaction. A user taps the screen or shakes the device (sensed through an accelerometer) at the tempo of a particular song in order to listen to it. We use the variability in beat frequency to display ambiguity to allow users to adjust their actions based on the given feedback. The results of a pilot study for a simple object selection task showed that although the tapping interface provided a larger range of comfortable tempos, participants could use both tapping and shaking methods to select a given song. Finally, the effects of variability in a rhythmic interaction style of interface are discussed.