Human-robot ensemble between robot thereminist and human percussionist using coupled oscillator model

This paper presents a novel synchronizing method for a human-robot ensemble using coupled oscillators. We define an ensemble as a synchronized performance produced through interactions between independent players. To attain better synchronized performance, the robot should predict the human´s behavior to reduce the difference between the human´s and robot´s onset timings. Existing studies in such synchronization only adapts to onset intervals, thus, need a considerable time to synchronize. We use a coupled oscillator model to predict the human´s behavior. Experimental results show that our method reduces the average of onset time errors; when we use a metronome, a tempo-varying metronome or a human drummer, errors are reduced by 38%, 10% or 14% on the average, respectively. These results mean that the prediction of human´s behaviors is effective for the synchronized performance.