AMAI: Adaptive Music for Affect Improvement

Adaptive Music for Affect Improvement (AMAI) is a music generation and playback system whose goal is to steer the listener towards a state of more positive affect. AMAI utilizes techniques from game music in order to adjust elements of the music being heard; such adjustments are made adaptively in response to valence levels of the listener, measured via facial expression and emotion detection. A user study involving AMAI was conducted, with N=19 participants across three groups, one for each strategy of Discharge, Diversion, and Discharge -u003e Diversion. Significant differences in valence between music-related stages of the study were found between the groups, with Discharge -u003e Diversion exhibiting the greatest increase in valence, followed by Diversion and Discharge. Significant differences in affect between groups were also found in one pair of self-reported surveys, with Discharge -u003e Diversion exhibiting the greatest decrease in positive affect, followed by Diversion and Discharge.