Particpants Needed for informal learning at a BSO concert!

Participants Needed

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, is conducting a study funded by the National Science Foundation that involves a new concert-enhancing mobile application called Octava. Octava is an app for mobile devices that acts as a concert companion for audiences at orchestral concerts. Featuring an unobtrusive, elegant design, the Octava app delivers program notes in real time during performances to provide an in-depth, enhanced live listening experience. Unlike traditional program notes, which are physically printed and usually read before or after a concert, Octava leverages the ubiquity of personal mobile technologies to deliver information to users at the exact moment it is pertinent during the performance. This allows for the delivery of supplemental context with a level of specificity previously unattainable, and activates the experience of listening for users interested in deepening their understanding of the music performed.

We are conducting a test of this new app during the performances of Beethoven Symphony No. 5 on Friday, September 23 and Sunday, September 25, and we need your help! Some study participants will be asked to use the application and others will experience the concert as usual. We will also be experimenting with an interdisciplinary approach that explores the integration of science concepts that relate to the music in these pieces. Participants will be randomly assigned to different research groups.

Study participants must be available to attend the concert in its entirety (using the app if assigned to do so) and complete online surveys sent before the concert, shortly after the concert and about a month after the concert. As a thank you for your participation, you will receive $60 at study completion.

To be eligible to participate in this study you must be at least 18 years of age, have or purchase tickets to the performance on September 23 or 25, and have either a smart phone or a wifi-enabled tablet (iOS or Android) that you can bring with you to the concert hall. Individuals who participated in the Octava beta test on June 9 or 10 are NOT eligible to participate. For tickets to the performances, consider our discount ticket programs listed below.

Participation is on a first come, first served basis. To join us for this study or if you have any questions, please contact our UMBC research collaborator, Linda Baker, at NSF.BSO.Project@gmail.com or Baker@UMBC.edu.