MuSe

Welcome to the world of MuSe!

MuSe is our course project for CS 247: Human Computer Interaction. Muse has undergone 8 prototype revisions and has been tested by more than 10 users. Music teachers and musicians were also consulted during the making of MuSe. The resulting product is a simple and flexible toy for kids to play with while learning about music.

Vision and Scenario

MuSe is designed as a music initiatory toy to help kids learn the concept of pitch. Our target audience is kids ages 3 to 5. MuSe can be played by an individual or a group, either at home or at school.


MuSe has 3 modes of play.

In the ‘listen and play’ mode, muse plays a tone and then checks if the user's input matched the last pitch. If the pitch matches the tone is played and the player is rewarded. If it does not match the player is urged to try again.

In the Improvise Play session a melody is played in the key of C. The student can play over this for as long as they wish. Students also have the choice to turn the music off so that just their notes are heard.

In Complete the Melody the player is first presented with a simple melody. They are then played the same melody except for the last pitch. The students must play the correct pitch to move on to another melody.

Need finding/ Learning Theory/ Educational Goal

Muse is designed to teach children about the concept of pitch through a series of games. A more in depth discussion of these topics can be found on this page

Design Process/ Prototypes and Iterations.

The following are reflections over the several user tests conducted.

User Test 1

User Test 2

User Test 3

User Test 4

User Test 5

User Test 6

Similar toys exist on the market but are targeted at different age groups and focus less on musical education. One is the musical tables, for 2-4 year old kids, providing simple electronic tunes, fun melodies, flashing lights, movable buttons and so on. Unfortunately, toys like these do not emphasize making your own music. Others include video games such as ‘Rock Band’ which are targeted to older audiences. Again, while simulating playing an instrument these games do not allow the user to create their own melodies.

Our design differentiates through special focus on systematic music education, especially pitch practice. Muse also allows children to play their own music over existing recordings by keeping the notes in the correct pitch.

Technology Platform

The primary technology platforms for our device are Arduino and Flash.

We used the Arduino to interpret MuSe's physical interface. The Arduino reads signals from each pitch pad, which will consist of a momentary switch, a pad (for enjoyable and easy user input experience) and some wire. The MuSe Flash program interprets the signal sent from Arduino, and plays the corresponding sound.

For a more detailed listing of problems encountered during implementation please visit this page

About Us: The MuSe Team

We are Dennis Paiz-Ramirez,
Prowpannarai Mallikamarl Tongliemnak
andXingxin (Ariel) Liu, from Stanford University.

Please feel free to contact us for any questions. Hopefully, you will like it, too!