OISE AUDIO EXPLORER
This project revolved around designing a device that communicated to the user something they would not normally be made aware of. It seeks to make the user more aware of the actual sounds they hear, rather than just the meaning behind them. By translating audio into a simplified and abstracted visual form, Oise challenges the user to think about noise on a more basic and playful level
How it works
Oise is a simple device, meant to produce visual representations of sound via thermal printed stickers. Its operation is intentionally hands off, allowing the user to focus on the result rather than the device. Once the user presses the listen button, Oise then
1. Llistens for 10 seconds, creating a spectrogram
2. Divides spectrogram and marks cells that exceed a specified noise threshold
3. Draws circles in each marked cell and connects them to form pattern
4. Prints pattern via thermal printhead
Oise addressess an increasing lack of awareness and lucidness of the fundamentals of human existence in the form of our senses. It aims to pull the user out of their everyday tunnel vision and to explore the very basics of sound and hearing. Oise is not meant to be a practical object, it is, at its essence, an object of exploration and play.
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Oise challanges the user to question the way sound presents itself to them. We are constantly surround by sounds, yet we only acknowledge ones with meaning. Even when we hear these noises, we are not truly hearing them, just gleaning their intention. Oise pushes the user to think about the parts that build a sound which we take for granted.
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Decision Criteria
- Screen-less design makes more sense to spark curiosity
- Screen-less also shifts focus onto the print rather than the device
- Flatter designs look awkward with no screen
- Flatter designs would also require an extra mechanism to keep feed pressure
- Long design lends itself towards clipping onto belongings
- Simplified to just creating, not reading to keep device “pure”
Component Sourcing and Consumer Focussed Design
As designers, we have a responsibility to think about more than just the creation of a product. We must consider every step of a products life cycle in order to minimize our contribution to the endless waste we humans produce. Because of this, Oise was deisigned for easily assembly, repair, and eventual recycling. As a non-essential object, Oise needs to be made in a way that minimizes the chances of it having a lasting impact on the planet by sitting in a landfill for thousands of years. The printhead, motor, microphone, batteries, and all hardware used in Oise are all afforadable, off the shelf parts. The main constraint when designing this product was the paper size, as no commerically avaiable rolls of thermal label paper exist with a diameter under 2.” This lead to the product being a different shape than originally intended, and also much larger. Oise was designed to use a RP2040 Microcontroller, though, if produced commerically, would be better suited towards a cheaper, smaller, custom PCB. Using only commerically avaiable products means Oise is not set up to make as much money as possible. If profit was the goal, paper would be custom made for the device and be charged at a premium. However, this iteration of Oise was designed with the consumer in mind, and could even be fully buildable at home with the right parts and tools.
Story Board and Physical Prototype
Final Renders