Daphne’s Portfolio
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Projects 2018-2023
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2. Echo / A tangible sound memory recorder
Echo is a recording device that provides the ability to create a tangible audio collection of memories.
The need to create audio memories arose from the oservation that when leaving users without visual stimulus, memories are a mixture of memory and imagination, thus allowing them to recall the images they want. Making the recollection of memory an experience.
Storyboard
go...
Create a collection of sound memories.
The user has the ability to print the sound on polaroid type papers. Through an algorithm, elements such as frequency, noise, lacation and time are collected to create an abstract work of art. Thus, each paper is unique and is a tangible representation of memories. Each paper also contains a QR code that leads to the recording link via the Cloud for instant playback of the memory.
Some important notes.
What is the difference between auditory and virtual memory?First of all, when we talk about sounds, we refer exclusively to ambient sounds, speech and noises. Sound is a form of stimulus that people cannot reproduce, if someone hears a voice on the street, for example, they cannot hear it again, whereas a scenery they like can turn their head as many times as they need to capture it in their memory. That's because these sounds are absolutely momentary and that's why we consider their conservation important.
Why just audio and no video?
The main question we got was "why save only the audio and not shoot a video that combines audio and video?" The main difference between the two is that with videos our sense of visual perception is 100% engaged and limited to what we see, which ultimately may not represent the reality of the image scene. For example, if we shoot a video of a trip that does not clearly capture the tone, feel and mood of the trip, in 10 years when we happen to watch the video again, the memory we get from the trip will probably be the "fake" one that the video offers.
The audio memory we provide allows users to keep the memories they want. With the help of sound and through their memory and imagination, users create their own memories and images they want to have, whether real or distorted, pleasant or unpleasant. We let users create a global picture of memories rather than a picture with 4 sides and corners. So as the years go by, the audio will provide a new memory and a new image, each time making the users' experience different.
Why not with a cell phone?
Another common question is "why not use my mobile phone that records, stores and is always on me"? The main answer is that we seek the "tangibility" of the object, so that it has a material existence itself, so that it can be part of the memories. We want the wear and tear of time to show on it so that it matures like its users and its surface to "hide" memories. (e.g. a scratch or a dent).
The second reason is because mobile phones are now a do-everything device. It's a multimedia machine with infinite information, misinformation, bad news and "news" about other people's lives. We want to distance ourselves from this speed and "ugliness" and give memories the value they are entitled to.
Why not a screen?
We want to avoid a screen on the device we're building. We want the user to be able to hear what they are recording at any given moment, but we don't want them to be able to "browse" through their past recordings. This is so we can isolate the product from the experience and avoid a situation where the user lives the experience through the device, meaning it's a process that they do, it's over and they don't engage with it further.
Sketches
Studio VI / Group Project / Spring Semester 2021 / University of the Aegean