Design and Evaluation of Passive RFID-based Music Player Textile Prototypes

Music has always been an important way of expressing ourselves. Creating music from bodily interaction has gained much attention: Various gestures, touches, hand and foot movements are used to make music. The traditional identification and sensing technology-passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) technology-can be turned into a battery-free music player for creating music with a simple touch or gesture. Firstly, the technical feasibility of the created RFID system was evaluated by a simple on/off test. Next, this paper introduces two music player textile prototypes: The Touch Prototype can be activated by touching, while the Block Prototype can be activated by blocking, unblocking, or hovering over a specific spot on the created music player textile. Finally, the study gears towards the evaluation of the system in-use. Both developed prototypes showed a high input detection rate (95–100%) based on preliminary testing. The Block Prototype was found to be more flexible for the user, as the user does not need to be as precise in the movement as in the Touch Prototype. However, as the Touch Prototype allows separating the RFID IC and the antenna, it provides flexibility for the placement of the music player textile, for example when used as part of clothing.