NoRe: Augmenting Journaling Experience with Generative AI for Music Creation

TL;DR

This paper introduces NoRe, a system that uses generative AI to create personalized music from journal entries, aiming to enhance emotional reflection and engagement in journaling practices.

Contribution

It presents the design and evaluation of NoRe, a novel AI system that transforms journal entries into personalized music to augment the journaling experience.

Findings

Music generated supported emotional reflection

Enhanced user engagement observed during the study

Music evoked vivid reminiscence of daily experiences

Abstract

Journaling has long been recognized for fostering emotional awareness and self-reflection, and recent advancements in generative AI offer new opportunities to create personalized music that can enhance these practices. In this study, we explore how AI-generated music can augment the journaling experience. Through a formative study, we examined journal writers' writing patterns, purposes, emotional regulation strategies, and the design requirements for the system that augments journaling experience by journal-based AI-generated music. Based on these insights, we developed NoRe, a system that transforms journal entries into personalized music using generative AI. In a seven-day in-the-wild study (N=15), we investigated user engagement and perceived emotional effectiveness through system logs, surveys, and interviews. Our findings suggest that journal-based music generation could support emotional reflection and provide vivid reminiscence of daily experiences. Drawing from these findings, we discuss design implications for tailoring music to journal writers' emotional states and preferences.