# Interactive Rhythm Learning System by Combining Tablet Computers and Robots
## 5 Comparison of Rhythm Apps  
In this section, four rhythm Apps were applied for comparison, including Carnival of Animals [15], Woodchuck Rhythm [16], Rhythm Training [17], and Monkey Drum [18]. Table 3 lists the functions of our system and four rhythm Apps. According to the comparison results in Table 3, we could find that our system contains more interactivity and functions than other apps. In another way, an experimental field trail of applying the four rhythm apps was processed. Three students of ages 6, 7, and 9 years participated the experimental field trail over 10 days. A test the same to Section 4 was administered to three students before and after this field trail. Table 4 lists the detailed test results of three students. Before this field trail, the students scored an average beating accuracy of 76%; after the field trail, the accuracy improved to 83.33%. This improvement is not significant. The following conclusions were derived from this field trail:  
* During the field-trail process, most participating parents did not like having their children spend excessive time on these apps. Some parents were concerned that long-term usage of mobile devices would impair their children's vision.
* During the field-trail process, we found that children were spending a small amount of time on rhythm training and an excessive amount of time on in-app minigames unrelated to rhythm training.
* Although the Carnival of Animals and Rhythm Training apps had interesting and attractive interfaces, these apps had monotonous audio feedback and operation, and learners may become bored after one or two uses. In addition, these apps allowed practice with only minimal rhythm combinations and do not allow customization.
* For the Monkey Drum app, children could tap the mobile device in whatever rhythm they desire. However, this app had poor interactivity and monotonous playback and was unable to keep children's long-term interest.
* Although the Woodchuck Rhythm app applied seven rhythm patterns, each of which had corresponding scores, cartoon graphics, and audio file. However, this app had only a small rhythm library and did not include rhythms with long beats (e.g., half notes)  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Student**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Testing before the Field Trail**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Testing after the Field Trail**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **Beating** & **Correct** & **Accuracy of** & **Beating** & **Correct** & **Accuracy of** \\  & **Number** & **Beating** & **Beating** & **Number** & **Beating** & **Beating** \\ \hline A & 25 & 18 & 72\% & 25 & 21 & 84\% \\ B & 25 & 17 & 68\% & 25 & 19 & 76\% \\ C & 25 & 22 & 88\% & 25 & 24 & 96\% \\ \hline \multicolumn{7}{c}{Average Beating Accuracy} & 76\% & & & 85.33\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 4: Testing results of three students.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Heading**} & **Our** & **Carnival of** & **Woodchuck** & **Rhythm** & **Monkey** \\  & **System** & **Animals**[15] & **Rhythm**[16] & **Training**[17] & **Drum**[18] \\ \hline Interactivity & ✓ & ✓ & & & ✓ \\ Notation Learning & & & ✓ & ✓ & \\ Note Value Learning & ✓ & ✓ & ✓ & ✓ & \\ Variety of Musical Instruments & ✓ & & ✓ & & ✓ \\ Create and Edit Drum Scores & ✓ & & & & ✓ \\ Difficulty Adjustment & ✓ & & ✓ & & \\ In-app Simulation of & ✓ & & & ✓ & \\ Percussion Instruments & ✓ & & & ✓ & ✓ \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 3: Comparison of our system and four rhythm apps.  
These observations revealed that although these apps provided tremendous entertainment value, they did not facilitate favorable learning outcomes. By contrast, our system not only provides excellent interactive and entertainment features, but also enables desirable learning outcomes.