The Mobile Music System case study resulted in an Experiential Prototype that helped invent, design and allowed the experience of using the device and all the components that it interacts with (such as a web and cell phone application) to be integrated into a touchscreen that told user-based stories. The touchscreen directly interacted with the device so you can watch how the characters use it and experience it for yourself.

The main concept of the music system was that it acted as an open source of sounds and gestures. The device, represented as a small, ping-pong ball-like object that was movable and could be attached to a person’s body on things like clothes, hats, shoes, etc., could be used to play, make, share, and sync electronic loops. It acted as the music hub that became a mobile music library configured and accessed by other components such as a computer or cell phone.

There were four main features that were invented in this system: play, make, share, and sync. Each feature was evolved based on the story and profiles of each character. Here are the key aspects of their profiles based on their stories:

Aaron – the dancer
Feature: mixing through dance moves
His personality and behavior led to the feature of mixing loops through dance gestures. Loops are played through dance moves. An individual move played a loop for a few seconds. Repeating the move kept the loop playing. He combined moves to combine loops until an entire song was composed through dance. His moves made his music.

Theo – the musician
Feature: making and sharing
The next character is Theo, who's a musician. He wanted to use the system to make his own custom loops and share them with his friends. This need expanded the system into other devices such as a web-based application and cell phone and started defining the technological infrastructure of this complex system. Theo used the device to record custom loops from instruments, edited them using a web-based music application, and downloaded to his device. He could then share his music library with his friends by making a “pouring” gesture over their device. This gesture transferred his library into others’ giving open source file sharing a tactile dimension, almost tangible through vision and gesture.

Angel – the socialite
Feature: synchronizing with others
The third character is Angel, who's the socialite. She loved to hang out with her friends and mix music with them. Since each of the characters have a variety of loops in their libraries all with different tempos and keys, her need inspired the feature of syncing to evolve into the system. The syncing feature allowed the music to automatically sync to another’s tempo and key making for group or socially composing music through movement. To change the tempo and key, the group had to stop. The person who started again became the leader, and all loops synced to his/her tempo and key.

Each feature that was defined by the character’s story was turned into a working model to test the viability of the solution. The "blank device" focused the attention toward the potential experience and interactions of the system rather than specific forms of the individual devices that were to be designed at a later stage. The result is a story-based touchscreen that directly interacted with the device so you can watch how the characters use it and experience it for yourself. It became the prototype before the prototype by sketching the experiences of new and innovative complex systems of our future technologies.

NEWS

April 2006
"Experiential Prototyping" Wins bronze at the 5th Annual Horizon Interactive Awards

April 2006
"Experiential Prototyping" featured on Netdiver.net

March 9 , 2006
"Experiential Prototyping" is selected and published in the Media Design gallery.

Feb 8, 2006
Selected to participate in the Openroom at the Post-Digital Creation Conference (OFFF).

Jan 19, 2006
Presented "Experiential Prototyping" to the research labs at Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley.

Jan 11, 2006
BusinessWeek Online: Design Gets Its Due in Davos

Feb/Mar 2006
Article in Dwell Magazine titled "Thinking Design" regarding an interview with IDEO's David Kelley and his ideas on methodologies leading to innovation. "From aesthetics to economics to education, says David Kelley of Stanford University’s d.school, it’s time for each of us to think like a designer."

Dec 15, 2006
Public presentation of Experiential Prototyping in Art Center College of Design's LAT auditorium.