From the Speculative to the Tangible: Incorporating Generative AI Tools into an Accessible Instrument Design Workflow

Hugh Aynsley, Miggy Barker, Dave Meckin, Catherine Warner, and Thomas Mitchell

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

Abstract

Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) offer vital opportunities for Disabled musicians, yet the design and development of bespoke ADMIs remains lengthy, expensive and inaccessible to much of the community. Whilst there are promising indications that generative AI tools have the potential to enhance inclusion, participation, and independence for Disabled people, their use within ADMI design remains under-explored. This paper investigates how AI tools, specifically text-to-image generators, can facilitate the co-design process of hyper-bespoke ADMIs between Disabled musicians and instrument designers. We explore how emerging AI technologies can be incorporated in a participatory action research methodological approach to progress participants’ ideas from AI-generated images into viable 3D-printed prototypes. We propose a procedural design workflow that incorporates conceptual 2D designs, low-fidelity craft mock-ups and iterative design into a co-design process for Disabled musicians and instrument designers with the intention of opening new pathways for personalised, participant-led design approaches to ADMI development.

Citation

Hugh Aynsley, Miggy Barker, Dave Meckin, Catherine Warner, and Thomas Mitchell. 2026. From the Speculative to the Tangible: Incorporating Generative AI Tools into an Accessible Instrument Design Workflow. Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20784279 [PDF]

BibTeX Entry

@inproceedings{nime2026_92,
 abstract = {Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) offer vital opportunities for Disabled musicians, yet the design and development of bespoke ADMIs remains lengthy, expensive and inaccessible to much of the community. Whilst there are promising indications that generative AI tools have the potential to enhance inclusion, participation, and independence for Disabled people, their use within ADMI design remains under-explored.  This paper investigates how AI tools, specifically text-to-image generators, can facilitate the co-design process of hyper-bespoke ADMIs between Disabled musicians and instrument designers. We explore how emerging AI technologies can be incorporated in a participatory action research methodological approach to progress participants’ ideas from AI-generated images into viable 3D-printed prototypes.  We propose a procedural design workflow that incorporates conceptual 2D designs, low-fidelity craft mock-ups and iterative design into a co-design process for Disabled musicians and instrument designers with the intention of opening new pathways for personalised, participant-led design approaches to ADMI development.},
 address = {London, United Kingdom},
 articleno = {92},
 author = {Hugh Aynsley and Miggy Barker and Dave Meckin and Catherine Warner and Thomas Mitchell},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.5281/zenodo.20784279},
 editor = {Benedict Gaster and João Tragtenberg and Anna Xambó and Tom Mitchell},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 note = {},
 numpages = {14},
 pages = {774--787},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/acWgJkoDfD4},
 title = {From the Speculative to the Tangible: Incorporating Generative AI Tools into an Accessible Instrument Design Workflow},
 track = {paper},
 url = {http://nime.org/proceedings/2026/nime2026_92.pdf},
 year = {2026}
}