The brief & ideas of a new sound exercise

After "Experiments in Sound and Action", we got a new project which name is "Experiments in Sound, Form and Light"for the coming two weeks.

In the third and final exercise of the ISD course we will try to combine all that we have learned and experienced in the previous exercises, putting it all together and designing a product and the sounds related to it.

We were asked to identify a product where the sound interface and characteristics are lacking or are of a poor design quality. We will then work with the physical form and the audio form. We will try and work parallel with these two factors and strive to achieve a harmonious synthesis so that the resulting product and the sound it produces work as a unified whole. Analyze the sounds the product produces and discuss how these could be improved, and how the form (and function) should be related to a new sound. We may also introduce lighting effects to add to the enhancement.

As usual, some interesting ideas jumped out from my brain. One of my ideas is playing piano in the air by tracking fingers with a web-cam that was inspire by a video on TED which talked about Sixth Sense Technology. The concept is not new but there is a lot of potential ways to use.
Another one is designing a serious sounds that replicate the sound of a toilet flushing, which covered the sound people pee or poo. Thus people no longer have to feel embarrassed that someone is hearing the sound you make in a public toilet. However, I found an apple App in Japan which already develop and produced this idea in both ways like a button on toilet and an app on mobile phone.

Tomorrow, we are going to have a brainstorming about it