Active Visual Techniques:

 

Repercussion: sharpness, sequentiality, repetition, depth, consistency, transparency, activeness, unity, symmetry (instrument), balance, understatement.

 

Light Blue Optics (product): economy, regularity, unity, singularity, diffusion, understatement.

This interactive projector by Light Blue Optics is an interesting piece of technology since it represents, to me, a whole new direction of interactivity in multimedia. The idea and technology intrigues me more than the actual product, but that's not to say that it is bad design. Just the opposite. Light Blue Optics are the proprietors of this holographic laser projection technology and seek to license this technology to manufactures who have ideas of where to take this technology. With that, its economic, understated form is perfect for presenting this new technology while leaving it open to the possibilities that others can imagine. The head which holds the projection lens is angled for function, while its curved and rounded edges give it a sense of reliability- similar to the design of an external hard-drive. The mechanical components, lens and inner workings, seem almost removable from its outer case, furthering the idea of expanding uses for the technology in other forms. I even like their logo, seemingly a merger of an arrow with an eye.

Not in the tangible product realm are Carla Diana's repercussion instruments. I'm really interested in the direction of online musical instruments, their design in sound, usability and the context in which they're used. These instruments are more wholly imagined than many which I have seen and used. Although difficult to play in a traditional sense, they are well conceived in their range of tone and pitch making for some sonic wanking and plenty of implied melodies to carry on to your instrument of choice. Unlike the Light Blue optics projector, its design is sharp and balanced making clear and consistent use of its functionality, the square shapes to show what areas can be manipulated. The shape is abstracted from that of a stringed musical instrument which is consistent with its sound and it's angled presentation gives it depth and dimension.

I can imagine these two technologies together for making a whole new range of musical instruments.

Week 11: Contrast

This is a clone of a famous guitar effect pedal which uses contrast effectively to draw attention to the exterior pedal surface with a dynamic graphic, reference the inner and exterior workings of the pedal and pay homage to the original design. In general the shape and function of the pedal is pretty simple. The rectangular and flat exterior surface features a dynamic graphic design which is actually a schematic of the inner workings of the original pedal that this pedal mimics in design and sound. Although the inner workings of this pedal actually look and work slightly different, the use of the old schematic makes for a dynamic graphic which effectively draws attention to the pedal, highlighting all of the exterior functions, input, output, on/off, control knobs (for those who can read schematics anyway) while paying an obscure kind of homage to the original design. 

Movement/Motion: Option 2

Here are two examples of the basic element of motion in product and user interface design.

Soundzzz

by designer: Sungwoo Park

Soundzzz is a product designed to use the motion (vibration) of a speaker as a tactile, experiential, aid for the hearing impaired.

The idea is to use vibration to represent sound, adding to a visual experience, by using the sensation of touch to replace hearing. By this standard, and the experience of a person with all senses intact, the tonal range and separation of sounds inherent in a film soundtrack, or music in general, would be represented in some way by vibration, or a system of vibrations.

This system for navigating sound would be difficult to achieve. For one, representing sound by frequency, which is essentially what is happening, is good for effect, but does nothing to differentiate the quality of sound, which is crucial for a film soundtrack and music. Sound has emotive qualities, an A major and an A minor are close in frequency range, producing an almost similar vibration (I would think), but opposite emotive qualities. Soundzzz designer attempts to address this by adding color along with sound. A nice feature, but I'm not sure how it works exactly; what frequency range matches to what color; if there's a range of colors other than the three pictured (brightness factors?), ect. Another problem might be that many sounds happen at once. Overlapping vibrations, I suspect, would be difficult to differentiate. Not that I have elephant skin, but I've been told that people who lack one or more of their senses compensate with sensitivity in the others, making it possibly easier to separate those sounds out. Nevertheless the designer separated the pillow shape into two hemispheres, one with a speaker producing high frequencies and the other with a speaker producing low. The design also seems to make use of areas of the body with sensitivity. The picture shows it being held against the chest and belly with hands and fingertips flattened over its surface; all of which are seemingly sensitive areas of the body.

Although this product is geared towards the hearing impaired, it's not far off the concept of vibrating chairs in a movie theater and could be applied in other experiential and product designs.

Soundzzz



Thereminator

by: Yonac

This is music application for Apple products which uses the motion of a persons finger over a touch sensitive screen to navigate the quality of sound. It synthesizes the sound of a theremin, a radio frequency based, analog instrument used to make just about every eerie sound in radio and television in the 1930s and beyond. It uses the movement of a users finger over the touch sensitive screen to generate changes in sound: volume, pitch, effects, ect. The navigation aspect in the application is the performance of the user. In this respect, visually speaking, the app. is successful in my opinion. One of the challenges in playing an actual theremin is learning to hit the right note, since it uses the proximity of a persons hands in space, from two metal rods, to control pitch and volume. With this app. the notes are marked on the screen, while criss-crossing green lines on the x and y axis showing the user exactly where they are in the spectrum of sound. The downside may be that the finding-the-note quality inherent in playing a theremin may add something to the performance. However, this navigation is perfect for an iPhone app. where people understand touch functions. And there's even a "touch free" option that allows the same controls over sound by simply moving the devise around!

For more info go to iTunes and search Thereminator.

Dimension/Depth/Space

Here is a three dimensional display created at the Institute for Creative Technologies, USC. The display uses a high speed camera and a revolving mirror to create a projection of any object giving it the appearance of three dimensions. The objects, a running person in this picture, are presented at about a quarter of their true scale and can be viewed with correct perspective from 360 degrees. The images are believable in tone, but lack color, giving them a monochromatic green or blue look. The images move at a tell tale 20 frames per second and the miniatures are confined to the respective space within the revolving mirrors. Nevertheless, this impressive piece of technology is sure to drive a leg within many disciplines of design.


ICT Graphics Lab

Tone and Color: Interaction Design

This is an experimental sound installation currently being exhibited at the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts. I'd say this is an example of an interactive design that uses sound stimulation and visual stimulation to engage the participant. Since the experience is an aural one, I think it makes good, simple, use of tone, color and shape in its composition.

In this example tone is used to define the area in which the user must stand to hear the projected sounds. It is created by a light source shone through a transparent, half-dome shaped object producing circular rings of various tone on the floor.

The interaction of tone with the basic element shape is apparent here. The projection of circular shapes on the floor defines the many areas within the room where one can hear the various sounds projected from overhead. The varying tones also seem representational of an aural experience, since sound and light are both waveforms and the radiating shapes of various sizes could be seen as a visualization of sound bouncing off the floor.

While tone serves a general locative purpose, color and shape are the primary communicators of where a participant should stand to best hear the sound installations. Large red dots are placed directly under the domes overhead, which aside from projecting light, are projecting sound compositions. Dots are a basic element which can communicate location and denote content.

Coupled with tone, color and shape are used to communicate to a participant that these areas are of interest. This is primarily important, since, in this example, one might walk into a silent room and wonder what the star track chamber is all about.

SoundSpots
By: Rob van Rijsijk and Jeroen Stijbos

Basic Elements in Interactive and Product Design Unearthed

Being an interdisciplinary major with interests in interactive design and product I've chosen examples across these areas to illustrate three examples of the basic elements discussed by Dondis.


This is a multi-touch interactive display made for OTICON by WHITEvoid interactive art and design. There are many basic elements active in this display. The most apparent are the bubbles which contain icons, representing various things, which can be dragged into the yellow containers to produce written information about a subject. The bubbles, which are 2D circles made to appear 3 dimensional with the use of tone, are essentially dots when perceived from far away. Here the dots create space and dimension within the display using size, shape and tone. This makes them effective as pointers within this informational system, as well as leading the eye and maintaining interest in the display.


Here we have a lamp which sits on the floor made by designer Albertine van Iterson. What I find particularly active in this floor lamps design are its lines. Its lines, angled at about 30 degrees from the floor and arranged in a cone shape, give it a dynamic appearance, as if light was shooting out of it. It reminds me of an old gramophone cone, which was used to amplify sound before speakers were invented. Ironically, the lamp doesn't seem to produce much light, but I thought it was an excellent example of what lines can communicate, even if they can't deliver.


Lastly I chose a classic flashlight. Not sure of who made this, they were pretty common and are an iconic shape for the object. What I find particularly active about this design is its shape, specifically, how it may communicate something about its use. Essentially, with this flashlight, we have a succession of four circles connected by lines (thinking in AutoCad terms); two larger circles make up the lens housing and two smaller circles make up the handle. Of course it may be hard to visualize the circles from this picture, however the highlighted and darkened tones on the handle implies the cylindrical shape. The circle is suppose to be associated with warmth, endlessness and protection. I find it interesting, the idea, that an object, whose primarily made up of circles, may in some way communicate protection. Especially in this case, where the object may allow you vision through a dark room, the night, or especially, through a pitch black room filled with cacti and modern furniture.

A6_Visual Syntax

As an interdisciplinary major I'm interested in application development as well as the devises for which the software is intended. Here is a example of a web page designed for people to download software applications for their iPhones. The visual syntax of the composition is clear in communicating this. The page is divided evenly along the vertical "felt axis" with two columns of information on the left and one perceived column on the right containing an image. The header divides the page unevenly along the horizontal axis, making use of font size, color and placement of the text, in the upper left, for stress and sharpening, while the larger area below makes up the specifics of the the "what" within the page. A large image of the device for intended use and application are prominently displayed making good use of size and asymmetrical placement within the horizontal and vertical "felt axises" to stress and sharpen the purpose of the page and content. Text speaking of the application and device makes use of similar size in column width and proximity to the image. Other specific information is grouped by size, color and proximity in a smaller column size. A button, of similar shape to the product, and with an icon of the device, is differentiated by its size and color, proving a link, as well as information as to where the application can be downloaded. Overall a good use of syntactical guidelines.