Pitch.Pls: Explore Music Theory in a New Dimension
Pitch.Pls was a one-week project developed during the Spatial Computing course with David Rose and Ricardo Acosta. Tasked with exploring a problem or enhancing reality within a specific field using spatial computing, the team focused on music theory education at the Jazz Music School in Bergamo. After researching the space, they identified pitch recognition as a key challenge for beginner students and designed an interactive learning experience.
Using Unity, Blender, Adobe Aero, and the Apple Vision Pro, the team created a pitch-tuning app that immerses students in a virtual environment to learn the basics of music theory. The experience begins with onboarding screens that introduce instructions and key concepts. Within the VR space, students interact with three spheres, each capable of altering the pitch of a starting C note when moved up or down. The objective is to adjust the spheres until the correct pitch is reached, receiving real-time feedback through a chime and color change. If incorrect, users continue experimenting until they match the correct tone, training their ears in a spatial and intuitive manner.
Upon completing all pitch adjustments, the app reveals the chord the student has created and transitions them into an immersive space bubble where a popular song in that chord begins playing. From there, users can further explore musical structures by adjusting the pitch of the entire song using only hand gestures, reinforcing their understanding through direct interaction.
By leveraging spatial computing, Pitch.Pls transforms music theory education into an engaging, hands-on experience. It bridges the gap between abstract concepts and tangible learning, making pitch recognition more intuitive and immersive for beginner musicians.
