Themes
Through a range of experiments in a set of unique themes, we explore ways to enhance our interactions with space and improve our everyday lives.
Explore Theme
Re-imagining life at home within the boundaries of our planet.
1 New experiment
Explore Theme
Exploring new ways to see and use our homes to elevate our mood and well-being.
6 New Experiments
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Built by — ManvsMachine
ManvsMachine is a design and direction studio founded in 2007, with locations in London and Los Angeles. Our work is primarily design-focused, whether we are creating motion branding assets and guidelines or filming live action television ads. Everything we do comes from a starting point of a strong visual language and core creative concept.
Optical Soundsystem is a speculative design prototype for an augmented reality (AR) application which would allow you to "see" music within your environment. With it, you’d identify a speaker in your home and generate a real-time visualisation of the sounds you're listening to; allowing you to experience your music not just aurally but also visually and spatially. It would look really pretty, too.
'We wanted to develop something that anyone, anywhere, would be able to experience. Devices aside, augmented reality and virtual reality are inherently accessible technologies – so we just did our best to embrace that.'
Detail image of the particle simulation reacting to a low-range frequency.
Detail image of the particle simulation reacting to a mid-range frequency.
Detail image of the particle simulation reacting to a high frequency.
Optical Soundsystem would show a user visualisations of the waves and frequencies emitted from a single or multi-speaker sound system setup in an impressive display of colorful formations. The sound waves would bounce off and wrap around objects in your apartment and you’d be able to customise what kind of style you’d like to see.
The visuals would be achieved by identifying the speakers and their orientation with object detection and pose estimation using a modern camera-phone, as well as configuring each speaker to synchronise audio coming from it. Simultaneously, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the surroundings are constructed using LiDAR. The visual 'sound waves' are a 3D representation of the music as it moves around and interacts with the surroundings.
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Although Optical Soundsystem would integrate a new visual device into our environment, the idea was founded on the desire to expand the users’ perception of a space. It would be about adding a new sense (vision) to something we’re all familiar with – the experience of listening to music at home – in the most tactile and spatial way possible.
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