Curating Ambience
Role: Product Designer, Sound Designer
Spring '21
The Sound Lab PxP is the final stage of the Sound Lab project. Moving on from creating soundscapes, this wearable product distorts the noise that enters our ears in our daily lives.
This PxP (Prototype X Product) curates the ambient sound, transforming the unwanted noise into a well-rehearsed performance.
We often forget how much information enters through our ears. The morning wind that blows through the window, rustling of the dead leaves on the window sill, and the quiet electric hum of the laptop, are all very audible and yet can be so easily buried under other, often more disturbing noises.
But what if you could curate the noises that entered your ears? What if you could transform the daily soundscape into a performance tailored just for you?
The Proto-Product takes what I learned from the Modular Horns and the Sound Lab projects, and proposes a consumer product that gives the wearers the ability to curate the soundscape as I did with the Modular Horns.
I maintained the modularity to allow the wearer to tailor the noise curation with varying designs and materials. The wooden plate represents the latest iteration, with the multi-layered plates provide hindrance which would create a reverb that would simulate a greater sense of depth.
The first iteration was a closed-loop design, with the Proto-Product surrounding the entire ear. This was in an attempt to block out unfiltered noise as much as possible, which would give the shape of the wooden plate a greater influence in affecting the soundscape.
With the second iteration, I cut the lower part, actually allowing sound sources to directly enter the ear. The intention is that the difference in time between the direct sound and the sound that is reflected off of the metal plate would create a better echo effect and therefore a greater sense of space.