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Design Concepts: Avant-Garde Audio

by Matthew Zuras on December 17, 2009 at 12:34 PM

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never move from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over their creations, nonetheless.

In this week's installment of design ideas, we uncover some of the most innovative audio concepts of the past few months. All of the picks contain elements of fantasy, from the floating Melody Balloon to the dream-inspired Acoustic Robot. Others combine tactile sensation with listening experience, a synesthesia that goes so naturally with music that we wonder why the idea has never been incorporated in mass-market devices. All in all, these gadgets represent everything we'd like to see in the acoustic future.


Touchtable by Thomas Mascall

Thomas Mascall's Touchtable idea relies on the scroll-wheel interface made popular by the iPod, but allows for far greater control over your music. Besides precise track positioning and pitch control, it gives users a handle on track switching and beat control, effectively turning the music player into a mini DJ station. But the minimalist look of the Touchtable separates it from the iPod, which almost looks garish by comparison.


Sound Pets by Studio Lim

Looking like a large-scale version of something out of Cronenberg's 'eXistenZ' (in a good way), the Sound Pets by Studio Lim mash up your sofa and your home theater into one tactile acoustic space. They completely transform the idea of the living room as a place to sit and be entertained into an enveloping experience. The user gently strokes (like a pet) the peaks, which control volume and other settings, and the sound emanates from below. Check out the video here to see the prototype in action.


Sounzzz by Sungwoo Park

The Sounzzz device by Sungwoo Park is another touch-based audio player, but with even more of an immediate application. Designed for the hearing-impaired, Sounzzz vibrates both high and low frequencies through its memory foam exterior, allowing the user to absorb and interpret the vibrations. LEDs light up on the front to add additional information to the user about the sound being played.


Melody Baloon by Yoonsang Kim

This music player concept is, by far, the most inspired we've seen lately. The Melody Balloon by Yoonsang Kim isn't content to sit in your pocket -- it wants to be seen, so it floats above your head. The player is controlled by a small ring that slides on your finger, and cradles into a charging dock when it's low on juice. When it's powered up, up into the air it goes.


Acoustic Robot by Tan Lun Cheak

Lacking any gimmicks except for its name, the Acoustic Robot is not a robot at all. Designer Tan Lun Cheak took inspiration from his subconscious: "I went to space one night in a dream. Battled an evil four-eyed robot. And I destroyed it by wrecking its brains out." The result is the whimsical hull of this imagined evil robot, converted into a speaker.

Tags: audio, concept, design, designconcepts, features, top

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