Personalised and Inclusive Gestural Instruments for Artists

This thesis explores how digital instruments that respond to body movement can be personalised to individual artists. It shows how these gestural instruments can enhance creative expression in performance and how personalisation can accommodate the movement capabilities and support the creative agency of performers with physical disability. The research involves close collaboration with four artists to co-design tailored audiovisual instruments and new performance works. It offers practical strategies for designing expressive and inclusive technologies for performance and shows how personalising gestural instruments to accommodate a performer’s needs can lead to more opportunities for people with disability to express themselves creatively.