SBIR Phase I: ZOOZbeat - An interactive music analysis, re-synthesis and distribution engine

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims at developing a computational music system that will automatically analyze, re-synthesize and distribute digital music with the goal of transforming a linear and passive music listening practice into an interactive, expressive and viral music performance experience. The system will utilize approaches for temporal, tonal and harmonic analysis as well as collaborative interactive performance and distribution, in an effort to create an engaging musical experience that is rewarding and viral. Mobile and web-based applications will be developed supporting cloud-based multi-player interactions, allowing music fans to get expressively involved in creating, modifying, and personalizing their favorite music. The project will investigate how temporal structures in music are represented and processed by human listeners and will design new models for analysis and re-synthesis of music in an effort to facilitate interactive and collaborative musical experiences. The project will advance current knowledge in areas such as music information retrieval, music theory, music perception, machine learning, mobile interaction, signal processing, instrument design, and cloud computing. If successful, the project will lead to broad impact in the public sphere by creating engaging and rewarding musical experience for users at all skill levels. By providing easy-to use tools for music creation and sharing, the project would encourage creativity and expression for the general population, facilitating growth in user-generated content in an area that is usually not accessible to the masses. From a business perspective, the broad impact of the project will be in providing a novel solution to the significant problems faced by the music industry today. The industry is looking for new ways to monetize content by engaging fans with music games and personalization tools (e.g. ring tones). Once deployed, the platform proposed will address these needs by providing an intelligent system that will allow fans to interact, personalize and share their favorite music in an expressive and viral manner, using mobile devices and online.