
Dr Simon Holland
Senior Lecturer In Computing
School of Computing & Communications
Biography
Professional biography
Simon is a Senior Lecturer in Computing. He is Founder and Director of the Music Computing Lab, and a member of the Centre for Research in Computing and the Interaction Design Research Group. Simon’s research interests are in Music Computing, Digital Health and Human Computer Interaction.
Research interests
Simon Holland founded and directs the Music Computing Lab, a research group in the Centre for Research in Computing. His research focuses on the interconnected areas of Music Computing, Human Computer Interaction, and Digital Health. He has served as PI or Co-I on ten external research grants, totalling nearly £4.5 million, including Polifonia (EU, € 3,025,435.06), the HAPPIE Haptic Authoring Pipeline for Immersive Experiences (Innovate UK, £998,538), the AHRC E-Sense Project on digitally enhanced senses, £200,000), the Haptic Bracelets (Goldcrest Trust), the ESRC Older People and Technological Inclusion ESRC project, and the NATO Science Committee. He has published over 100 refereed research articles, and co-edited two seminal books on Music and HCI. He was co-author of Human Computer Interaction (Preece et al)— for many years the worldwide best seller in HCI. He was a founding member of the editorial Board of the Journal of Music Technology and Education. He was lead organizer of two international workshops on Music and HCI, the most recent at CHI 2016 in San Jose. He has devised numerous human-centred computing systems and interaction techniques including Harmony Space, the Haptic Bracelets, the Haptic Drum Kit, the Audio GPS, and a new and highly expressive form of interaction, Direct Combination. He has supervised 12 PhD students to completion, and examined 24 PhDs. He is currently co-Investigator on the Innovate-UK funded project, Happie - Creative touch, Design prototyping, and leads a research collaboration with PJ Care Neurological Care Homes.
He is lead Editor of New directions in music and human-computer interaction. Eds. Holland S, Mudd T, Wilkie-McKenna K, McPherson A, Wanderley MM Springer, London. ISBN 978-3-319-92069- 6 (2019).
Teaching interests
Simon has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Tutoring systems, Human Computer Interaction, Smalltalk, Object Oriented Programming and Design and Software Engineering. He was been presentation chair of M868, and has taught on PMT80, PMT607, M868, M206, M255 M256, M250, TM354, TM356 He is is currently teaching on TM255, Communication and Information Technologies, and TM356, Interaction design and the User Experience.
Projects
Publications
Book
Proceedings of the CHIME Music and Human Computer Interaction Conference 2024 (Music and HCI) (2024)
New Directions in Music and Human-Computer Interaction (2019)
Book Chapter
Understanding Music Interaction, and Why It Matters (2019)
TMAP Design Cards for Technology-Mediated Audience Participation in Live Music (2019)
Machine Learning, Music and Creativity: An Interview with Rebecca Fiebrink (2019)
Haptics for the development of fundamental rhythm skills, including multi-limb coordination (2018)
Harmony and Technology Enhanced Learning (2016)
Exploring New Technologies through Playful Peer-to-Peer Engagement in Informal Learning (2015)
Video analysis for evaluating music interaction: musical tabletops (2013)
Song walker harmony space: embodied interaction design for complex musical skills (2013)
The Haptic Bracelets: learning multi-limb rhythm skills from haptic stimuli while reading (2013)
Music interaction: understanding music and human-computer interaction (2013)
Whole body interaction in abstract domains (2011)
A first empirical study of direct combination in a ubiquitous environment (2005)
A Critical Analysis of Synthesizer User Interfaces for Timbre (2004)
Direct combination: a new user interaction principle for mobile and ubiquitous HCI (2002)
Artificial Intelligence in Music Education: A Critical Review (2000)
MOTIVE: The development of an AI tool for beginning melody composers (1994)
Learning about harmony with Harmony Space: an overview (1994)
Interface Design for Empowerment: a Case Study from Music (1992)
Journal Article
A small repeated measures study of haptic cueing upon gait symmetry in people after stroke (2017)
Empirically testing Tonnetz, voice-leading, and spectral models of perceived triadic distance (2016)
Testing a computational model of rhythm perception using polyrhythmic stimuli (2013)
A MIDI sequencer that widens access to the compositional possibilities of novel tunings (2012)
What can the language of musicians tell us about music interaction design? (2010)
Sense before syntax: a path to a deeper understanding of objects (2007)
An introduction to aspect-oriented music representation (2007)
AudioGPS: Spatial audio navigation with a minimal attention interface (2002)
Other
Preliminary report on the design of a constraint-based musical planner (1991)
Presentation / Conference
Proceedings of the CHIME Music and HCI Workshop 2023 (2023)
An agent for creative development in drum kit playing (2023)
Gait Rehabilitation for Neurological Conditions using Wearable Devices (2019)
Wearable Haptic Devices for Long-Term Gait Re-education for Neurological Conditions (2018)
Wearables for Long Term Gait Rehabilitation of Neurological Conditions (2018)
Designing for Diabetes Decision Support Systems with Fluid Contextual Reasoning (2018)
Design Implications for Technology-Mediated Audience Participation in Live Music (2017)
Two kinds of entrainment in gait rehabilitation using haptic metronomic cues (2017)
Characterizing the Landscape of Musical Data on the Web: State of the Art and Challenges (2017)
Designing a Highly Expressive Algorithmic Music Composition System for Non-Programmers (2016)
Wearable Haptic Devices For Post- Stroke Gait Rehabilitation (2016)
The Haptic Bracelets: Gait rehabilitation after Stroke (2016)
Questioning the Reflection Paradigm for Diabetes Mobile Apps (2016)
Rhythmic Haptic Cueing for Entrainment: Assisting post-stroke gait rehabilitation (2016)
Designing, Developing, and Evaluating the Future Internet of Personal Health (2016)
A pilot study using tactile cueing for gait rehabilitation following stroke (2015)
Prototyping a method for the assessment of real-time EEG sonifications (2015)
Towards bridging a gap in a musical live performance (2015)
Nonlinear Dynamical Systems as Enablers of Exploratory Engagement with Musical Instruments (2014)
Experimence: Considerations for Composing a Rock Song for Interactive Audience Participation (2014)
Eliciting Domain Knowledge Using Conceptual Metaphors: A Case Study from Music Interaction (2014)
Dynamical Interactions with Electronic Instruments (2014)
A cognitive dimensions analysis of interaction design for algorithmic composition software (2014)
Dynamical Systems in Interaction Design for Improvisation (2014)
A Gait Rehabilitation pilot study using tactile cueing following Hemiparetic Stroke (2014)
A review of real-time EEG sonification research (2013)
Kolab: appropriation & improvisation in mobile tangible collaborative interaction (2012)
We can work it out: towards a participatory approach to designing music interactions (2011)
Hex Player—a virtual musical controller (2011)
A novel user interface for musical timbre design (2010)
Asymmetrical Multi-User Co-operative Whole Body Interaction in Abstract Domains (2010)
Feeling the beat where it counts: fostering multi-limb rhythm skills with the haptic drum kit (2010)
Evaluating musical software using conceptual metaphors (2009)
Running up Blueberry Hill: Prototyping whole body interaction in harmony space (2009)
Prototyping Whole Body Navigation of Musical Harmony (2009)
Feel the force: Using tactile technologies to investigate the extended mind (2008)
Timbre space as synthesis space: towards a navigation based approach to timbre specification (2008)
Symmetric composition of musical concerns (2006)
Towards a mapping of timbral space (2005)
Smart homes and extended families (2004)
Applying aspect-oriented programming to music computing (2004)
Using Dynamic Aspects in Music Composition Systems (2004)
Applying Direct Combination to afford spontaneity in Pervasive Computing (2002)
AudioGPS: spatial audio in a minimal attention interface (2001)
Employing Object Technology to Expose Fundamental Object Concepts (1999)
Enhancing Interaction Scenarios with a Domain-Oriented Pattern Language (1999)
Separable User Interface Architectures in Teaching Object Technology (1999)
Exploiting Smalltalk Modules In A Customizable Programming Environment (1999)
Avoiding Object Misconceptions (1997)
The Object Shop – Using CD-ROM Multimedia To Introduce Object Concepts (1997)
The Joy Of Software – Starting With Objects (1996)
What is the Value of Virtual Reality for Conceptual Learning? Towards a Theoretical Framework (1996)
Understanding harmony and technology in music education (1995)
Pervasiveness of a Programming Paradigm: Questions Concerning an Object-oriented Approach (1994)
HCI and Music: Squaring the Circle (1993)
An AI Tool for the Analysis and Generation of Melodies (1992)
Virtual Worlds and their Role in Investigating Change in Cognitive Models of Motion (1992)
Visual Programming in Prolog (1991)
Two-dimensional Visual Programming and Three-Dimensional Execution Visualisation in Prolog (1991)
New Cognitive Theories of Harmony Applied to Direct Manipulation Tools for Novices (1987)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Report
Tutorial: An Introduction to AspectMusic (2006)
Synthesizer user interface design - lessons learned from a heuristic review (2004)
Audio Navigation: Using Spatial Audio In Ubiquitous Interfaces (2004)
Using Aspects to Help Composers (2003)
The application of Direct Combination to Mobile and Ubiquitous Human Computer Interaction (2002)
Thesis
Working Paper
Using rhythm for rehabilitation: evaluation of a novel haptic device (2017)
When is Direct Combination Useful? (2004)
A Simple Taxonomy of Search Reduction in Direct Combination (2004)
Learning about harmony with Harmony Space: an overview (Extended Technical Report) STAN-M-88 (1994)