Abstract
We propose a method for computing the similarity of symbolically-encoded Portuguese folk melodies. The main novelty of our method is the use of a preprocessing melodic reduction at multiple hierarchies to filter the surface of folk melodies according to 1) pitch stability, 2) interval salience, 3) beat strength, 4) durational accents, and 5) the linear combination of all former criteria. Based on the salience of each note event per criteria, we create three melodic reductions with three different levels of note retention. We assess the degree to which six folk music similarity measures at multiple reduction hierarchies comply with collected ground truth from experts in Portuguese folk music. The results show that SIAM combined with 75th quantile reduction using the combined or durational accents best models the similarity for a corpus of Portuguese folk melodies by capturing approximately 84-90% of the variance observed in ground truth annotations.

Abstract
Immersive audio technologies have broadened postproduction strategies for spatial audio, gaining popularity among mainstream audiences. However, there is a lack of defined procedures and critical thinking regarding audio mixing guidelines for surround sound in popular music. In this context, we conducted an empirical study to identify trends concerning instrument position, trajectories, and dynamics from surround mixings. Furthermore, we assess the degree to which they differ from their stereo renderings. Seven award-winning songs in the Grammy category for Best Immersive Album were analyzed, including surround 5.1 and stereo versions. The study found consistent instrument positions in the songs, with rhythmic instruments and bass in the center, lead vocals spread across front channels, and harmonic instruments in wider positions. Solo instruments occupied left, right, and center channels, with dynamics emphasizing lead vocals and solos. Trajectories were rarely used, indicating channel-based thinking. Limited adoption of immersive audio dimensions and reliance on stereo techniques were observed, with no notable differences between the surround and stereo versions. Identified song outliers are discussed and offer avenues for exploration, highlighting the importance of diverse musical expressions in informing immersive audio mixing. © 2023 IEEE.

Abstract
We study the impact of sound design – soundscape, sound effects, and auditory notifications, namely earcons – on the player’s experience of serious games. Three sound design versions for the game Venci’s Adventures have been developed: 1) no sound; 2) standard sound design, including soundscapes and sound effects; and 3) standard sound design with auditory notification (namely, earcons). Perceptual experiments were conducted to evaluate the most suitable attention retention earcons from a diverse collection of timbres, pitch, and melodic patterns, as well as the user experience of the different sound design versions assessed in pairs (1 vs. 2 and 2 vs. 3). Our results show that participants (n= 23 ) perceive better user experience in terms of game playing competence, immersion, flow, challenge and affect, and enhanced attention retention when adopting standard sound design with the earcons. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
Stress-ribbon footbridges are often prone to excessive vibrations induced by environmental phenomena (e.g., wind) and human actions (e.g., walking). This paper studies a stress-ribbon footbridge at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) in Portugal, where different degrees of vertical vibrations are perceptible in response to human actions. We adopt sonification techniques to create a sonic manifestation that shows the footbridge’s dynamic response to human interaction. Two distinct sonification techniques – audification and parameter mapping – are adopted to provide intuitive access to the footbridge dynamics from low-level acceleration data and higher-level spectral analysis. In order to evaluate the proposed sonification techniques in exposing relevant information about human actions on the footbridge, an online perceptual test was conducted to assess the understanding of the three following dimensions: 1) the number of people interacting with the footbridge, 2) their walking speed, and 3) the steadiness of their pace. The online perceptual test was conducted with and without a short training phase. Results of n= 23 participants show that parameter mapping sonification is more effective in promoting an intuitive understating of the footbridge dynamics compared to audification. Furthermore, when exposed to a short training phase, the participants’ perception improved in identifying the correct dimensions.

Abstract
This paper presents a clinical case study investigating the pattern of a saxophonist's embouchure as a possible origin of orofacial pain. The rehabilitation addressed the dental occlusion and a fracture in a metal ceramic bridge. To evaluate the undesirable loads on the upper teeth, two piezoresistive sensors were placed between the central incisors and the mouthpiece during the embouchure. A newly fixed metal ceramic prosthesis was placed from teeth 13 to 25, and two implants were placed in the premolar zone corresponding to teeth 14 and 15. After the oral rehabilitation, the embouchure force measurements showed that higher stability was promoted by the newly fixed metal-ceramic prosthesis. The musician executed a more symmetric loading of the central incisors (teeth 11 and 21). The functional demands of the saxophone player and consequent application of excessive pressure can significantly influence and modify the metal-ceramic position on the anterior zone teeth 21/22. The contribution of engineering (i.e., monitoring the applied forces on the musician's dental structures) was therefore crucial for the correct assessment and design of the treatment plan.

Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR) telepresence platforms are being challenged to support live performances, sporting events, and conferences with thousands of users across seamless virtual worlds. Current systems have struggled to meet these demands which has led to high-profile performance events with groups of users isolated in parallel sessions. The core difference in scaling VR environments compared to classic 2D video content delivery comes from the dynamic peer-to-peer spatial dependence on communication. Users have many pair-wise interactions that grow and shrink as they explore spaces. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of VR scaling and present an architecture that supports hundreds of users with spatial audio and video in a single virtual environment. We leverage the property of spatial locality with two key optimizations: (1) a Quality of Service (QoS) scheme to prioritize audio and video traffic based on users' locality, and (2) a resource manager that allocates client connections across multiple servers based on user proximity within the virtual world. Through real-world deployments and extensive evaluations under real and simulated environments, we demonstrate the scalability of our platform while showing improved QoS compared with existing approaches.