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Since 1993, Dr. Nakra has been conducting research in novel interfaces for multimedia performance, musical expression, wearable sensing, and Affective Computing. At the MIT Media Lab she developed the Digital Baton and Conductor's Jacket sensor interfaces, which have been used both for research and performance applications. Here is a list of her active research/creative projects:

Boston Symphony Orchestra collaboration -- In April 2006, Dr. Nakra and several TCNJ colleagues teamed up with researchers at McGill University and Immersion Music, Inc. to deploy a large-scale technical experiment in a live concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Working from a hypothesis that emotion, in the form of affective energy, is communicated and contagiously conveyed through the medium of a musical performance, the experiment was designed to reveal some of the mechanisms of communication between the conductor, the musicians, and the audience. Sensors for this project were donated by Delsys Inc. and BodyMedia, Inc.

During the concert, numerous sensors (EMG, EKG, GSR, accelerometers) were worn by conductor Keith Lockhart in an updated Conductor's Jacket. Five orchestra musicians and fifteen members of the audience also wore sensors. In addition, 30 members of the audience manipulated slider boxes registering their emotional experience. A month later, a high-resolution video of the concert was played at McGill University and another set of audience data was recorded. Analysis of the data is extensive and ongoing, involving contributions from many individuals. Currently, Dr. Andrea Salgian of the TCNJ Computer Science Department is working on extracting meaningful information from the video recording of the conductor.

The Conductor's Jacket -- Since 1997 Dr. Nakra has been investigating and using physiological sensors for research and performance applications. Numerous versions of the jacket have been used and worn by conductors in a variety of rehearsals and performances. The jacket has been presented in concerts of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Composers' Orchestra, and BBC Scottish Symphony. The jacket has been featured on CNN Headline News, the BBC World Service, the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and other news media.

"You're the Conductor" interactive installation -- Built in 2003 for the Boston Children's Museum in collaboration with Professor Jan Borchers of RWTH Aachen, this exhibit allows museum goers to "conduct" a video of the Boston Pops Orchestra with an infrared baton. For video of this exhibit, see our video on YouTube (sponsored by National Instruments Inc.).

Book chapter, in progress, entitled "Conductor's Gestures and their Mapping to Sound Synthesis." Written in collaboration with co-author Dr. Gunnar Johannsen, retired, of the University of Kassel in Germany. Funded by a grant from the European Union COST287 action.