Tile - connection with your music collection

Project info

Time: 3 Weeks

Team: Tobias Ertel, Kai van den Aker, Emile Chuffart, Oscar Olsson

Type: Umeå Institue of Design

Course: Sound Design

Supervisor: Prof. Thomas Degn,

Year: 2022

The analogue process of listening to music makes the user very engaged, from the act of collecting the records to putting on a track. Which in return creates a more memorable and engaging experience. The digital experience is very convenient, yet it lacks engagement and character due to it being too streamlined and efficient.

We wanted to explore how a tangible interface in combination with artificial sounds could convey the message of music listening as the sophisticated and social process it was intended to be.

Tiles is divided into two parts. The top part displays the users highly personal and beloved music library, offering a clear view of the beautiful art covers. The lower part is the actual player. Here, an album or song is mechanically inserted from the top part. Information about the current album is conveyed to the left on the E-Ink screen. Using the dial on the right, the user can for example adjust the volume or do other playback controls. With the help of buttons on the top right corner, the user can easily filter between song, album, artist and playlist when scrolling through the library.

This Project was a collaboration with the course "Advanced Product Design". My role of this project was, to build the experience prototype and create the sound design. All the Model making and Renderings were done by the APD students.