INTERACTIVE MUSICAL TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES CREATIVITY: A CASE STUDY WITH E-MOCOMU TECHNOLOGY Elena Partesotti 1 , Jônatas Manzolli 2 , Alicia Peñalba Acitores 1 1 University of Valladolid (Spain) 2 University of Campinas (Brazil) Abstract This paper presents a case study on interactive musical technology and discusses how it enhances Creative Empowerment gained through the proprioceptive awareness of participants within an interactive environment. We propose the concepts of Creative Empowerment and Sensorimotor Maps [1] in order to explain this thesis. Our viewpoint is that this kind of technology could be applied both in therapeutic and educative environments, bringing benefits in the learning process of people of any age and gender. Our study also connects DMI technology to Mixed Interactive Reality, which is based on the proprioceptive interaction of the user and integrates diverse perceptual modalities [1]. The research verifies how e-mocomu’s prototype technology might integrate the following sensorimotor contingencies: visual, auditory and proprioceptive, showing the potentialities that this kind of interactive instrument could offer. Keywords: Creative Empowerment, Sensorimotor Maps, proprioception, learning, MIR technology. 1 INTRODUCTION The introduction of musical technology in therapeutic and pedagogical settings has raised major interests, although this is not yet a common practice. In recent years, the massive development of music technologies such as Digital Musical Instruments has attracted interest from diverse disciplines, opening a dialogue regarding the effectiveness of such implementation in various cognate fields. Digital Musical Interfaces (DMIs) contain a control surface and a sound generation unit, are designed for various contexts, such as musical and artistic applications, and can be used by non- experts and experts [2]. In music, implementation of these gestural controllers in everyday life is increasingly common, enabling the user to become both the creative and the performer, regardless of his/her musical skills. One example is Biophilia by the the composer Bjork, which implement the concept of the ReacTable by Jordà [3], or the Music Gloves by Imogen Heap, designed to make music with the performer's hands. In recent literature, studies have shown the effectiveness of the technological environment applied to pedagogic and therapeutic setting [4, 5, 6, 7]. As Repetto outlines [8], metaphors are always present in the expressive modalities of children, therefore allowing an immediate approach to technology. Parmigiani [9] outlines the diverse phases that occur during the experimentation and exploration processes between the user and the technology. They consist of: 1. Planning phase 2. Creative phase 3. Research phase