The following is an excerpt from an August 4 news release from Optek Music Systems Inc. announcing research done by Wichita State University’s Training Research and Applied Cognitive Engineering Laboratory (TRACE). Dr. Joseph Keebler, assistant professor of psychology and director of TRACE lab at Wichita State, is quoted in the release.
Optek Music Systems Inc., makers of the Fretlight Guitar and Fretlight Learning System, announced Aug. 4 that a published review of independent research has confirmed the company’s Fretlight system speeds learning, enhances retention and builds confidence in guitar players better and faster than traditional methods.
Research conducted at Wichita State University’s Training Research and Applied Cognitive Engineering Laboratory (TRACE) and Central Florida's Institute for Simulation and Training Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, the research evaluated the theory of embodied music cognition utilizing an "augmented reality" system (e.g., the Fretlight learning system) versus traditional learning modalities such as sheet music, tablature, chord diagrams, books and instructors.
"By 'offloading' information directly onto the guitar, the Fretlight system lessens barriers to learning by reducing the cognitive transfer between diagram and instrument, i.e. less back and forth," said Dr. Joseph Keebler, Assistant Professor of Psychology and director of TRACE lab at Wichita State. "Whether learning to play guitar or working with computers, we can now re-conceptualize the way we interact with instructional content."