Doctors and nurses rely on an array of medical devices. Unfortunately, the poorly designed “beeps” in these machines are so annoying they lead to confusion, delay patient recovery, and even contribute to deaths. Despite high interest in improving these alarms, surprisingly little attention has been given to the sounds themselves. For the next generation of machines, why not look to sounds used all the world over…the sounds used in music? Known for his innovative blend of performance, teaching and research, Dr. Michael Schutz is currently Associate Professor of Music Cognition/Percussion at McMaster University, where he is currently University Scholar in recognition of his work connecting music performance and music perception. He is the founding director of the MAPLE Lab and a core member of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
