EarTune: Exploring the Physiology of Music Listening

Music is a universal component of human culture, which influences emotion, and mental state and also has a direct impact on the physiological functioning of the body. Heart rate, breathing rate and heart rate variability have been shown to be impacted by music listening, although the exact impact of combinations of musical features on these parameters is mostly unexplored. However, exploring how these musical features influence physiology enhances our understanding of the potential of music to be used as a tool to regulate and provide interventions. In this paper, we present EarTune, a system for predicting changes in physiological parameters and subjective categorisation of the 'feeling' of a song using only the vital signs that can be collected using earables. With an accuracy of 70% for predicting the change in physiology due to music listening and an accuracy of 92% in predicting the user's 'feeling' of the song, EarTune paves the way towards the development of a system that can tailor music suggestions based on an individual's current physiological state, contextual state and emotional needs.