Shared Agency through Collaborative Trajectory Editing in Immersive Audio

Lennart Sailer, and Henrik von Coler

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

WeSp is a browser-based interface for real-time collaborative trajectory editing in immersive audio performance and production. Trajectories are defined as 3D splines and traversed by play-heads that represent sound objects moving along these paths with adjustable speed and direction. Multiple users can edit the same set of trajectories simultaneously, enabling shared agency over a common virtual acoustic scene. A collaborative user study was conducted with four groups of four participants, using two tablets and two laptops within an immersive sound environment. Participants completed structured tasks and engaged in open exploration of the interface. Results from established usability questionnaires confirm usability and learnability. A thematic analysis of open-ended responses further reveals how groups coordinate interaction in live spatialization contexts. In particular, the shared and dynamic visual representation supported spatial orientation and made collaborative actions, such as synchronizing movements or following gestures, more apparent. Verbal communication emerged as an effective strategy for coordination among participants.

Citation

Lennart Sailer, and Henrik von Coler. 2026. Shared Agency through Collaborative Trajectory Editing in Immersive Audio . Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784429 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_141,
 abstract = {WeSp is a browser-based interface for real-time collaborative trajectory editing in immersive audio performance and production. Trajectories are defined as 3D splines and traversed by play-heads that represent sound objects moving along these paths with adjustable speed and direction. Multiple users can edit the same set of trajectories simultaneously, enabling shared agency over a common virtual acoustic scene. A collaborative user study was conducted with four groups of four participants, using two tablets and two laptops within an immersive sound environment. Participants completed structured tasks and engaged in open exploration of the interface. Results from established usability questionnaires confirm usability and learnability. A thematic analysis of open-ended responses further reveals how groups coordinate interaction in live spatialization contexts. In particular, the shared and dynamic visual representation supported spatial orientation and made collaborative actions, such as synchronizing movements or following gestures, more apparent. Verbal communication emerged as an effective strategy for coordination among participants.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {141},
 author = {Lennart  Sailer and Henrik von Coler},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784429},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {7},
 pages = {1151--1157},
 title = {Shared Agency through Collaborative Trajectory Editing in Immersive Audio },
 track = {paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_141.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}