Stephen Ow's profileKah Kiat Tan's profile

Note | A Mixtape for the Blind

Multiple Owners
•
N O T E  /  2019

a mixtape for the visually impaired
Featured in Yanko Design, Student.design, Trendhunter, GIZMODO, Kemiktivi and DID 

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Note was made using books as an inspiration to find new possibilities of a speaker for the blind. A mixtape for the blind with simple book gestures, simply open the book to start a song. Flip a page for a new genre, or flip back to play another song. Volume is adjusted on how wide the book opens.



N O T E
A story by Stephen & Kah Kiat


As people who like music, our favourite topics during this ‘book’ exploration was speakers​​​​​​​
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We wondered how a blind person would interact with a speaker and the answer was smart speakers! 
audio book blind book Book Binding design product design social design Student design inclusive design emboss

Through our investigation, most smart speakers typically exist as home devices. People seem to have little to no issues with current smart speakers. We thought we hit another roadblock - that there were no opportunities for something new. But in our obsessing with speakers we found one interesting issue that is less about the practical convenience or making it speech related. Current smart speakers lack that personalised touch! Touch is important for the blind and we wanted to improve that experience. Is there an alternative physical interaction for the blind? Would it be dignifying if we could allow them to “see through touch”? ...
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Our big idea came when we started comparing speakers to books…


Books are easy to operate - everyone knows how to flip a book. Whereas smart speakers require you to set it up.
audio book blind book Book Binding design product design social design Student design inclusive design emboss



Books - they give you a sense of anticipation, a surprise of an unfolding story, or entry into another world. Whereas smart speakers only play according to a request that is expected​​​​​​​
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We wondered if we tapped into all these properties of a book, would we be able to create a smart speaker that uses touch in a dignified manner for the blind? So we set out to translate these properties of a book into a smart speaker.


What if the speaker looked just like a book.. And instead of being transported into another world 
through text, it is through music?
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What if a simple flip of the page changes the song? 
And what if volume could be adjusted by how wide you open the book?
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Execution
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Trying to hide a box of electrical components was a major issue, it should be a natural part of a book and should not disrupt pages when flipping.. we finally judged that it would be ok to come up with a single box for electronics and a double hinged paper.
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The biggest breakthrough came when we finally found a simple and effective way to celebrate the unfolding process - a musical greeting card switch. Open the page at an angle to flick the switch on. This switch is small and easily replicated at a low cost.​​​​​​​
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we present to you
...


N O T E



Just flip open Note to start playing a song
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How do you skip a song? Simply flip forward and flip back. The indie song that you were playing is now changed.
There are infinite song lists that is input into Note according to its genre.​​​​​​​
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to increase volume, open the book wider, or leave it standing
audio book blind book Book Binding design product design social design Student design inclusive design emboss


x


audio book blind book Book Binding design product design social design Student design inclusive design emboss
Note | A Mixtape for the Blind
Published:
Stephen Ow's profileKah Kiat Tan's profile
Multiple Owners

Owners

Stephen Ow's profile
Singapore
Kah Kiat Tan's profile
Singapore

Note | A Mixtape for the Blind

Note was made using books as an inspiration to find new possibilities of a speaker for the blind. A mixtape for the blind with simple book gestur Read More

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Attribution, Non-commercial, No DerivativesAttribution, Non-commercial, No DerivativesAttribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives