Musical Cocoon (IOL Week 1: Design a Project)

By Helen Kwok

Note to Nick: This post is a few days late as I missed the first class of Illusion of Life due to attending the full-day VR workshop run by MAGI and VRTOV. Carlo was kind enough to do this exercise with me in our studio class. Thanks Carlo! :)

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For Week 1, all the students had to pair up and design a project for each other. Carlo kindly volunteered to be my interviewee. I found the process quite insightful, as although I've known Carlo for a few months now, I was able to learn something new about him in the interview - such as his deep love for music and sound. Audio plays a big part of his life (he is a musician, and also worked in the VJ space for many years), and he mentioned how a good soundtrack can affect whether he liked a movie or TV show. Sound and music are an essential part of his life.

Hence, I designed the Musical Cocoon - a soft blanket made of fluffy white material (reminiscient of clouds) that could be wrapped around body, fully immerses the user in a warm embrace of musical harmony and changes colour based on the audio being played. It can connect to your Spotify playlist to play your favourite tracks while you close your eyes and lose yourself to the magical beats. A screen was also added so Carlo can enjoy his Netflix shows while inside the cocoon too.

This was Carlo's favourite solution out of the five proposed, as he thought the cocoon gave him the feeling of safety, escape and intimacy. After showing Carlo the playdoh prototype, he thought it gave the right vibe, but wasn't sure about the headphones and screen - maybe AR could be used here? He also questioned what would happen if he needed a bathroom break. We also chatted how this would be great for plane flights where you're suspended in the cocoon like a hammock.

Reflection

How did engaging with a real person change your direction?

Engaging with a real person allowed me to ask questions that either confirmed and dispelled my assumptions, and even learn something new and unexpected. I was able to probe further if needed, and dig deeper for more information. Having someone to engage with throughout the design process also allowed me to get an immediate reaction not just from what Carlo said, but also get a feel from his tone of voice and body language. For example, when I showed Carlo the 5 radical ideas, he reacted quite negatively to one of them (the musical shoes) as he felt it drew too much attention to himself, and that was something he didn't like. I was able to steer away from this and focus on personal and intimate solutions.

What was it like showing unfinished work to each other?

As Carlo and I already knew each other for a while, it wasn't too stressful showing unfinished work. I found having visuals/sketches to show and demonstrate my ideas were particularly useful, as Carlo was able to just see it and "get it".

How did the pace of the rapid iterations feel?

A bit stressful and panicky at times, but it forced me to just churn out solutions without being too critical of them. This would be a great way to generate many solutions (in a brainstorming session, for example), and then filter / tweak / evaluate in the next stage of the process. (i.e. put the black thinking hat on later)

What stage would you revisit/do next?

I'd like to make another physical prototype - perhaps having the cocoon in a snow globe where the visuals could be projected on to the snow globe surface. This would get rid fo the screen, and also allow for music to be played and contained within the dome. This is a combination of my first two ideas, both which Carlo liked.

What is one thing you want to try tomorrow? Is there one thing you can take forward with something?

I'd love to have a play around with designing the visuals that could be projected onto the snow globe surface! I'm imagining some colourful and aurora-like lights, in time with the music being played. :)