Master Of Animation, Games & Interactivity
Master Of Animation, Games & Interactivity

Theme:

Play and Sound

Text is a very rhythmic thing. I designed each letter to correspond to a piano scale. When a piece of text is played one by one, it forms a piece of wonderful background music with a sense of rhythm. The way you give voice to words makes the boring process of typing more fun. Like a stair piano.

Link to example: https://youtu.be/FNlnG62saAQ

Method:

The sound of the keyboard is very mechanical. If the keyboard is transformed into a piano sound, different keys correspond to different scales. Under such a design, the typing process will play a random melody. With the coordination of the melody, the typewriter will have a more sense of rhythm, and the boring typing process will become more fun. Such an interesting method can also be used in the game script, when the characters speak, the piano music corresponding to the text is played at the same time. Or as a cryptic code that conveys some textual content through sound. After having this idea, I found the binding software Virtual Piano that can make the keyboard sound correspondingly. A piece of text is input through this software, and the sound that is played is recorded.

Context:

I made the keyboard sound map based on the idea of ​​"The Fun Theory". “The Fun Theory” was created by Volkswagen Sweden and ad agency DDB Stockholm as a competition to recognize that “fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour for the better (Hayward, 2015). Keyboard typing is a very boring process, but when typing can produce sound and melody at the same time, the writing process becomes more exciting and rhythmic. You can even find some inspiration while typing.

Link to the web: https://virtualpiano.net/

Reflection:

For further development, I am thinking about making a smart speaker. Smart speakers not only provide music during the use of the keyboard but also provide reasonable background music when Ai analyzes the user's state. Daily activities can also be influenced by music. Makes it feel like living in a movie.

Reference

Hayward, J. N. (2015, September 16). SIOWFA15: Science in our world: Certainty and controversy. SiOWfa15 Science in Our World Certainty and Controversy. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/09/16/the-fun-theory/

About This Work

By Keyu Zhao Kory
Email Keyu Zhao Kory
Published On: 16/09/2022