Motion-Emotion-Lab
Psychophysiological laboratory for movement and emotion studies in the fields of Systematic Musicology (Music Physiology, Musical Acoustics, Music Psychology) as well as Musicians' Health & Music Medicine.
Making music requires highly complex fine-motor movements and cognitive performance. Modern hardware and software systems enable research in the field of “Music Performance Science” to professionally investigate the processes of playing and listening to music. They provide a scientific starting point for documenting activities and emotional processes. In addition, these systems offer a basis for developing improvements and for the prevention of overuse complaints and performance anxiety.
- Academic courses by Bertsch / Türk-Espitalier
- Research projects at the Department of Music Physiology
- Monthly open research seminar
- Short demo of some measurement devices in the Motion-Emotion-Lab (YouTube clip)
- Location: what3words.com/glänzen.weinen.träumen
Research & Measurement Areas
| 🕺 | Motion & Biomechanics 3D motion capture, EMG and pressure measurements capture posture, fine-motor playing movements and muscle activity. |
| 🎭 | Emotion & Psychophysiology Skin conductance, pulse, heart rate variability, temperature and respiration make emotional experience and arousal during music-making visible. |
| 🥽 | Virtual Reality & Augmented Audio Immersive VR exposure training against performance anxiety with 360° video and ambisonic audio. |
| 🫁 | Respiration & Spirometry Respiration belts and spirometers document breathing patterns and lung capacity. |
| 🎤 | Voice & Singing Voice range profile, biofeedback and sound level analyses for voice research. |
| 🔊 | Acoustics & Psychoacoustics Audio, spectral and listening experiments on sound and perception. |
| 🎥 | Audio & Video Audio, video and thermal-imaging recordings to document music-making. |
Infrastructure
EMG (Electromyography) Systems
Measurement of electrical muscle activity. Surface electromyography makes it possible to visualize muscle activation and detect increased tension.
- NORAXON Desktop 8-channel DTS EMG system with myoMUSCLE-Master software (MyoResearch 3 (MR3) PDF) FAQ on EMG
- Schuhfried Biofeedback 2000 x-pert two-channel EMG wireless modules
Motion Capturing
3D motion capture: body-worn motion sensors for posture and movement analysis.
- NORAXON Myo Motion Research, 6 sensors, 100 Hz sampling rate, with 3D modeling and biomechanical analysis software
- CROM 3 (Cervical Range of Motion) goniometer
Pressure Measurements
Force plates are used to document standing posture. Special sensors can also measure the forces that occur while playing an instrument.
- ZEBRIS pressure plate type FDM-S PRESSURE PLATFORM for stance and roll-off analysis
- NORAXON MyoResearch 3 (MR3) PDF myoPressure software module
- NORAXON sensors: DTS FlexiForce single-point pressure sensor, 25 lb
- BONSAI Systems (ETH Zürich) LiPr mouthpiece pressure sensor
Psychophysiological Biosensors
Biosensors: measurements of skin conductance, pulse, skin temperature or breathing patterns reveal biopsychological mechanisms and provide additional information about music perception and emotional experience during playing.
- NORAXON biomechanical analysis software, DTS Bio Monitor pulse, respiration, temperature
- Schuhfried Biofeedback 2000 x-pert Bluetooth incl. audio/video recorder, statistics module
- 2× Schuhfried BFB multisensor (wireless modules SCL, SCR, TEMP, PULS, RESP)
- Schuhfried BFB RESP respiration belt combination, chest and abdominal sensor
- Schuhfried BFB HFV/HRV module
- BOSO medistar blood pressure monitor
- Four Empatica EmbracePlus (Ventral EDA sensor (Electrodermal activity); Accelerometer; Photoplethysmogram; IBI (Inter-beat interval); On-skin detection; PR (Pulse rate); PRV (Pulse rate variability); Rest; Skin temperature; Steps and activity)
- Mindfield eSense Skin Response: skin conductance measurement with smartphone app
Respiration Sensors
Spirometry: documentation of respiratory and lung capacities.
- COSMED – Pony FX MIP/MEP Advanced Desktop Spirometer
Audio / Video Equipment
Audiovisual information, i.e. audio and video recordings, provides an important basis for documenting music-making.
- NTI XL2 Audio SPL sound level meter
- FLIR ONE iPhone thermal imaging camera – IR thermocam
- USB audio interfaces, various microphones
- NORAXON synchronization modules Myo Sync and Sync Light
Audio Players Online
- Relative hearing test: You can then compare how well you hear different frequencies, or how well your playback device performs.
- A & C Harmonic Octave Series Player (Fundamental + 5 Overtones)
- Buttkicker Low Frequencies Player (just intonation – click & play frequency pads)
SInES Tools © 2019–2026 by Christoph Reuter and SInES
Virtual Reality & Augmented Audio
Hardware and software for creating virtual environments for VR exposure training.
- Ricoh Theta Z1 360° camera
- Insta360 Pro 2 virtual reality camera (6 × 6K cameras), stitched 8K videos
- Rode NT-SF1 ambient sound microphone
- Zoom F8n mobile 8-channel audio recorder
- Meta Quest 1 VR headset by Meta (formerly Oculus and Facebook)
- Meta Quest 2 VR headset by Meta (formerly Oculus and Facebook), on loan from Bertsch
- Meta Quest 3 VR headset by Meta (formerly Oculus and Facebook)
- Meta Quest Pro VR headset by Meta (formerly Oculus and Facebook)
- PICO 4 all-in-one VR headset 128 GB by ByteDance (TikTok), on loan from ÖGfMM
Voice Analysis
In addition to audio recordings, dedicated hardware and software packages provide singer-specific information.
- VOCE VidiVoice Biofeedback Professional
- VOCE VidiVoice Stimmfeld Professional (voice range profile measurements)
- 2× PCE-322A SPL sound level meter dB(A), dB(C) with data logger
- VOLTCRAFT DL-161S sound level meter dB(A)
The Motion Emotion Lab is an official friend & partner of the SInES Tools: Tools for Data Acquisition and Empirical Research in Systematic Musicology at the University of Vienna. © 2019–2026 Christoph Reuter and SInES
These tools were developed by Christoph Reuter and the SInES Team at the University of Vienna and are available under a free license. To the original SInES Tools site at sinestools.univie.ac.at
Tool Areas
| 🎭 | Emotion & Expression Analysis Tools for analyzing emotion, facial expression, gaze behavior, pulse and physiological arousal. They support empirical studies on expression, perception and emotional response. |
| 🕺 | Pose & Motion Tracking Video-based tools for capturing body, hand and movement data. Suitable for analyzing playing movements, gesture, performance and motor coordination. |
| 🎶 | Signal & Audio Analysis Tools for analyzing audio signals, spectra, frequency bands, formants, pitches and onsets. They serve to investigate the acoustic properties of voice, instrument and sound. |
| 🤘 | Music & Voice Analysis Tools for analyzing music, voice, genre, mood, tempo, MIDI data and vocal expression. This also includes applications for speech emotion, metal vocals, pitch, chroma and beat. |
| 🔊 | Sound Design & Psychoacoustics Tools for investigating timbre, masking, harmonic tension, partials and resynthesis. They combine acoustic analysis with psychoacoustic questions. |
| 🎻 | Instrumental Tools Specialized programs for intonation, tuning and timbre analysis of string instruments. Currently available for violin, viola and violoncello. |
| 🖼️ | Image & Visual Data Tools Tools for the automated analysis of image material and visual data. This includes image-series evaluation and perception-based color comparisons. |
| 🧠 | Neurophysiological Tools Applications for EEG data acquisition and the experimental use of neurophysiological signals. This includes a Muse 2 data logger with brain synthesizer and sampler. |
| 🎨 | Timbre & Special Experiments Experimental tools for investigating timbre, perception and special questions in music and performance research. This area is continuously expanded. |