TEDx Talk: Connecting Through New Interactions In Music

Something that had been on my bucket-list for quite some time:

Audiate: The Revolution Has Begun

     The music revolution is upon us. I have found some bright individuals who would like to make Audiate a reality. If we succeed we'll fundamentally shift how mobile devices interact, and how we listen to music.  Photograph taken by me of The Downtown Fiction at Night Craze in 2011. Art designed in Illustrator and compiled in Photoshop. The revolution has begun, this will be some fun.

The Perfect Music App Interface

I aspire to build the perfect music player. One that brings music interaction into 2014. This draft outlines an app that would become the best music player, but also play music in sync across many devices. Users could create mini-radio stations, or turn up their speakers for a cell phone concert. This is an early draft and proof of UX concept.

I was working with a group in England to make this a reality. After a month of multiple inquiries and hearing nothing back, I have concluded they are a tad clouded in their beliefs on the future. The following drafts are all by me with minimal direction. I have omitted any material that is theirs (which isn't much).

 

 Android is lacking a beautiful, powerful, unified music app. No one seems to want to build one that brings music into 2014. Version 2 of this draft is even better... but more on that later.

Musicc Branding

Working with a group in England to turn a phone concert into a reality. Here's an early branding draft. Created the branding concept and logo, along with a UI draft... The interface coming soon. Set in a modified Avante Garde.

 An animation expressing the concept:

Song: Mr G. by Deadmau5, used for demonstration purposes only.

A Concert of 10,000 Phones

   Earlier I wrote about An aggregated sound system, and outlined an app that would connect phones into one sound system.The technology is totally possible, I've even been developing UIs that would make it simple to interact with. It's been almost a year since I came up with the concept and only the Samsung S4 can do it. This needs to be universal and it needs to happen soon, this could really change how we listen to music, especially with headphones on... in say a library. In a concert, Bill Finan suggested that if each phone play a certain section of the music, interference problems can be alleviated. Lets throw in LED flash synchronization too. I created this graphic to get the point across.

App Design Sketches -- Multiple people controlling one Bluetooth Speaker

     I could not for the life of me focus on math homework, so I decided to tackle a major UI problem: interface between a Bluetooth speaker and multiple phones. A portable speaker has to  be laboriously paired and unpaired for the speaker to switch users. Though this problem is mainly hardware, there are ways that Bluetooth incompatibilities can be worked around. This UI sketch shows how this might be done, following Jawbone's app design language.

iTunes Radio One Touch Streaming

Everyone's going crazy over music streaming. But the way we interact with music is old and inhuman. Here's a more modern rendition of my previous music touch interface: Tap on what you want to listen to, and it builds a playlist.

This is tuned towards iRadio, simply because Apple likes this kind of stuff. This is more human, I want to search by genre, color (how the song makes you feel). Attempts to reach out to Pandora, iTunes, spotify and 8tracks all failed. No one cares about innovation anymore. So until then, we'll all be stuck scrolling through playlists and song titles.

Audiate is Dead. The Future is in the Mesh!

My previous project, Audiate (previously Twistnet) has been parallel-developed by a British start-up, SoundSynk. We both coincidentally created the concept in February (without either having knowledge of each other), the students created a working prototype in 40 hours. They're connecting phones via Bluetooth to play audio all at once. It's fascinating that unbeknownst, we arrived at the same conclusions on how phones should connect into an aggregated sound system.

 The proper term is Mesh Network. A mesh network uses each mobile to receive and re-transmit a signal. I'd like to see it develop into a pirate radio like system for music, or even a social network.

I think it will be the future of data movement between phones. SoundSynk has huge potential, our similar concepts have been part of my life for almost 6 months now. Imagine the possibilities of social interaction where these "impromptu" meshes spread city-wide. I have so many ideas, I hope they're open to future collaboration! 

Multi Phone Bluetooth Speaker Software Concept

A cool concept outline to integrate with portable speakers. I think they're going to get a heck of a lot more intelligent. People can vote on music, or app could auto mix tracks selected by users. Now everyone can listen to their own music, without having to change wires or unpair a bluetooth connection.

TwistNet Concept Evolves to "Audiate"

My previous "TwistNet" concept has become a new project in itself: Audiate (which meas imagination for music). It would allow a user to stream their audio output and listen to other users via Wi-Fi. This can make mini stations in public settings, or by switching your speaker "on", can create a sound system out of several phones and Bluetooth speakers. Everyone can hear the music now, as each phone would be playing it in sync.

The home screen for broadcasting:

And the Listening Page...

 

Right now these are non-working sketches, I did these in a week of spare time. Currently working on how users would suggest  songs within the circle and change who has the privilege to play a song. I also think motion will play an important role, I'm experimenting with animating the UI. It has to be beautiful, universal, and I want it to be big... We'll see what happens.

"Aggregated, Interactive Sound System" concept

Imagine you're at a concert, but this one is different. Instead of a sound system, each person is holding a little glowing speaker device. They add together to create a surround sound system. The DJ sends out an audio signal and each device creates a map of where it is in relation to another. Depending on where it is in the room will depend on which (L,R,F,B) channel it plays.

Essentially a concert could be held anywhere, the more people the louder the system. It gives another dimension to what might be possible with portable Bluetooth speakers. The LED on top could amass to make one huge pulsating screen when held up (an idea in itself).  I give it ten years to become feasible.

"TwistNet" Concept

        TwistNet is a concept I sent to doubleTwist, who makes a great music app for android. I don't think they'll fly with it but It's a cool concept. It's centered around the idea that you can create your own "station" where your audio output can be shared with your buddies via bluetooth. This would make multiple phones into one big speaker, or a whole room (or bus or subway car) into many interactive listeners. Now everyone can enjoy a single person's music.

Listeners can suggest songs, or be given "DJ" privileges by the "DJ".

I've also been thinking a lot on  shareable music libraries where friends can add, share, and listen. We're moving to an age where every person has a computer in their pocket. It's kind of fun to think about how that will effect how we listen. I'm asking whats next? [doubleTwist logo used without permission, property of doubleTwist corporation]