In multisensory interactions, visual and haptic inputs and outputs have been mainly used while spatial audio has been underutilized. How do we leverage spatial audio in augmenting our environments? How can we use sound as a main channel of our interactions with others?
Reading Reflection (03/31)
The reading “Towards a Framework for Designing Playful Gustosonic Experiences” explores the notion of eating and sound, proposing a framework that builds more playful relationships with food. I really like the idea of simple, playful, and celebratory eating, especially because many projects aim to promote a purpose or goal of healthy or efficient eating. I think it’s interesting to think about the role of sound while eating in an age where many people typically watch tv or media while eating alone. Eating culture has long been a space involved with human behaviors and interactions, so I’m curious to explore ways to make media/interactive sounds a more enhanced and interwoven part of the eating experience (as opposed to trying to avoid it). Finally, I enjoy the way the reading emphasizes the fact having a simple and playful interaction like iScream! can still speak to a “purpose” or goal: promoting a positive relationship with food. This reading made me think not only about new ways to connect sound to eating, but it also made me wonder about what other activities could be combined with sound to promote more interesting and unconventional experiences.
Similarly, “Toward Understanding Playful Beverage-based Gustosonic Experiences” explores merging playful design with drinking-focused experiences. The “Sonic Straws” gustosonic system reminds me a lot of the movie theater advertisements that feature rich sounds of Coca Cola and popcorn to make the atmosphere more appealing. It made me think about ways designers can utilize a users’ senses to create richer connections to a space in less literal ways. I liked the way the reading brought up mukbangs **because there’s recently been a surge in auditory-based entertainment such as ASMR mukbangs. Even without design projects like Sonic Straws, there is already engaged interest in beverage culture and personalization of drinking. This reading helped me better understand how exploring niche topic spaces can increase awareness of meaningful activities like drinking beverages, ultimately producing more fun experiences and positive relationships.
Initial Thoughts + Considerations
After initially meeting with my team Richard and Daniel, we laid out some general ideas about what actions/topic spaces interested us. We had a conversation about the connection between sound and objects; what aspects of a product elicit a certain sound or song? For example, what would a book “sound like” versus a knife? How can we understand emotions through nonverbal sounds? We talked about ways to embed an emotional sound into an object based on its physical characteristics, and we figured we would begin to explore examples that touched on these topic spaces.
Case Study 01 | Curious Sound Objects
How does embedding sound into an object change people’s perception of its function? What physical affordances help shape people’s understanding of sounds?
Case Study 02 | Seated Catalog of Feelings
What sounds enhance people’s emotions or bring them closer to a memory or space? The Seated Catalog of Feelings provides a scenario or object and immerses the user accordingly through auditory and haptic feedback.
Case Study 03 | SoundFORMS
SoundForms allows users to touch and modify synthesized waveforms to help visualize, listen, and directly interact with the music notes. While the first two case studies focus more on abstract concepts related to sound, SoundForms inspires a more literal direction in immersing sound. It made me think about unique ways to assign music to physical interactions in playful ways.
Storyboard
Based on the precedent studies, I started to jot down some very general themes or concepts that could begin pushing our team in a specific direction:
When an object is picked up, it makes the sound of its origin? or it makes the sound of a memory
An object is input into a space and a different sound is emitted based on the different object shapes (for example, what sound would a water bottle make?)
Visual and audio representation of memory? What does nostalgia sound like?
To view the rest of my progress, please click here to see the full process page