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LOCATION-BASED AUDIO
Rather than the explicit and generic functionality
built into common consumer electronics, this project
explores ambient and localized modalities. Drawing
on the commuting experience, Nomadic Audio is intended
to be a sort of 'daydreaming' mode for mobile phones,
picking up local radio frequency information to
affect a dynamic audio ambiance.
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Exploring sound qualities and interaction models
for the commuting experience, the project began
with a series of 'audio diaries' kept by several
train commuters over the course of a week. The collected
material inspired a series of design concepts, including:
• 1-1 / adding intimacy to physically distanced
situations
• many-1 / urban nomad tapping into ambient
information
• many-many / territorial marking for clubs
and communities
• 1-many / channels of nonverbal group communication
Using sketch prototypes, the concepts were evaluated
in a train context. The most convincing involved
ambient, abstract sounds, which sparked imagination
about what they were and triggered personal narratives
about relations to places seen through the train
window. This led to the design of a structure for
an evolving soundtrack, mapping local characteristics
of radio waves (including natural distortion, speed,
and density over the time and distance of a commute)
to audio parameters.
PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE
Parallel to designing the sound experience, the
project considered alternative, gestural ways of
interacting with audio content. Taking the mobile
phone cord as a tactile input device, this involved
iterations of working electronic prototypes based
on an interaction metaphor between 'flute' and 'rosary'.
Through crafting scale physical prototypes, experiential
qualities were resolved, considering: fluidity of
movement, perceivability of input, and texture as
a tactile navigation guide. The final prototype
demonstrated the possibility for navigating content
in a peripheral and playful way, one that is integrated
into our less explicit gestures, motion, and attention.
OUTCOME
Nomadic Audio focussed on crafting audio and tactile
qualities to support alternative personal and local
modalities for everyday use. The design outcome
was twofold:
• a possible audio experience crafted as a
video scenario
• an electronic prototype of an alternative,
gestural interaction
Aspects of this project inspired the development
of the Sonic
City project, carried out while employed at
the Interactive Institute. |
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