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As a response on this week’s theme of Play and Sound, I made an interactive online play of “Mirror Mirror”, which is a series of mirrors emitting different sounds on hover and shows a quote based on the type of sound/music. I was intrigued by the idea of a music box and how people have their preference in choosing music/sound. I was also interested in the idea of magic mirror, for example in Snow White film, which is an object-based character. The magic mirror has a certain aura to it, and I was imagining a horror mirror that would emit an ominous feeling and sounds when some approaches it. I decided to use a variety of music and sound so that the players can choose based on their preferences: either the type of music they like, or curiosity and interest.
Method
I digitally drew the mirrors, then added sound onto the images. Having the images and the images with sound (mp4) allowed me to create the illusion that the image plays sound on hover on Adobe XD. I did almost everything on Adobe XD as it accommodates me to create the online interface and interactivity in a very straightforward and quick way. I add a page where the quote gradually shows up triggered by a click on the chosen mirror.
I used a variety of sound/music feeling to allow players to choose different sounds:
I thought about making the mirrors resemble the vibe of the sounds as well. While that idea can emphasize the atmosphere of the sound more, I also thought that what if the visuals take away the focus of the players, which should be on the sound/music. Therefore with that in mind, I decided to draw the mirrors in a similar styles and design.
Context
Thinking about sound, I was most intrigued by personal music taste. Choice and decision take part in having a personal preference. In my response, I wanted to see how the different kind of sounds/music affect decision making of the player. In a way, I tried to establish agency in a play by allowing the player to choose according to their will, depending on the most preferred type of sound/music. Decision making is an essential part of play/games, as mentioned by White (2012) “Games require children to make decisions, present increasingly difficult challenges, and encourage exploration…”. If my response is to be presented specifically to children, it can be a great platform to exercise agency in children, as ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority) mentioned “Supporting children’s agency is about recognising that children have a right to make choices and decisions and are capable of initiating their own learning” (ACECQA, 2018).
Reflection
This response would have been executed better if I asked people to play test it and ask them the reason of their choice. By doing so, I would have been collected a lot of different reaction and reasons that can be used for reflection upon knowing what aspects in the music affected their decision making. Interestingly, one of my peers who played my response seems to have a different view/perception towards the sounds. This peer perceived one of the sounds as a detective type of music and I did not think that there’s any from the 5 choices that sounds like a detective music. This is an aspect to be developed, or maybe addressed, as everyone has their own interpretation towards the sound and hence the quote, being based on my own interpretation, might not be as relatable. Additionally, as my context is more focused towards decision making in children, I should have made my response more focused on children. That can be achieved by changing the quotes into a simpler, children quote or having an interactive image/illustration of a character that resonates with the sound/music. The illustrations can be as simple as showing facial expressions that suits the feeling and notes of the sound/music.
Reference
ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority) (2018) Supporting agency: involving children in decision-making, ACECQA website, accessed 8 October 2022. https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-04/QA1_SupportingAgencyInvolvingChildreninDecisionMaking.pdf
White R (2012) The Power of Play: A Research Summary on Play and Learning, Minnesota Children’s Museum, accessed 8 October 2022. https://mcm.org/museum-professionals/explore-our-research/
By Eugenia Cynthiaputri
Email Eugenia Cynthiaputri
Published On: 21/10/2022