Soundmotion Diffusore Musicale Interattivo

Press Kit

Unique Properties

Soundmotion is a communication system crafted for long-distance relationship couple, aiming to foster seamless interaction through the integration of synchronized music listening and tangible engagement. The physical device is integrated with the Soundmotion application. By flipping the top of the device to different specific angles, users can choose between using the device as a regular music player or playing songs from the Couple channel and engaging in simple interactions with their partner.

Dimensions & Packaging

Length 110mm x Width 160mm x Height 110mm

Tags

Music sharing experience, Tangible interaction design, Long-distance relationship, Sound and Media, Multi-sensory Experience

Production Technology

Soundmotion utilizes the ESP8266 as its hardware platform to control the product's hardware and establish a connection with the Soundmotion server. This enables the transfer of emoji feedback data generated during user interaction, allowing Soundmotion to analyze the data using the Web API and provide personalized music recommendations for couples.

Design Challenge

The core challenge faced by this project is how to create a rich yet lightweight music-sharing experience for users. It aims to satisfy the entertaining aspect of couples' interaction while ensuring that such interactions do not pose a communication burden or disrupt their respective daily lives. Additionally, the project emphasizes emotional design, requiring simultaneous consideration across the dimensions of form, function, and interaction. It must meet the functional needs of emotional communication while providing users with a sense of presence and companionship from both the product's physical form and interactive feedback. The ultimate goal is to enhance the intimacy between couples through the design, fostering a stronger emotional connection.

Research

Exploring the use of music to facilitate implicit emotional communication between long-distance couples has emerged as a new design exploration space. Data collected through interviews and workshops conducted during the early stages of this design project indicate that music sharing can create daily topics for couples, provide a sense of presence through synchronized listening, and convey emotions and care through shared music. Therefore, this project aims to address the limitations in current research on long-distance intimate relationship technologies in the field of human-computer interaction, and explore how the combination of music sharing and explicit and implicit interactions can better help long-distance couples enhance their sense of intimacy.

Inspiration

Research shows music-sharing significantly contributes to maintaining and enhancing intimate relationships. Existing music players and streaming platforms, focused on individual experiences, rarely notice the potential of integrating the two aspects. Hence, Soundmotion is designed to deepen the connection between long-distance relationship couples through shared music experiences, enriched with a rich interactive design.

Project Duration

The project started in January 2023 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and finished in June 2023 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Operation Flow

Both partners in the couple each own a Soundmotion physical device, which is linked to their respective app accounts. Couples establish online and offline connections by jointly creating a Couple Channel in the app. Users can switch their status by sliding the device's top to a specific position, choosing between enjoying music individually or synchronizing with their partner in the Couple Channel. Additionally, users can express their emotions by selecting and sending emojis through the colored ring on the device.

Image Credits

Zhujun Pang, 2023