| V I S I P H O N E Sociable
Media Group |
||
|
 |
|
VisiPhone is a communication object that opens a graphical as well as an audio portal through space. It is designed to provide a continuous, ubiquitous connection between people in different places. Through this experimental medium, we are exploring the social and aesthetic aspects of visualizations of sound.
|
||
 |
||
Using an audio-only speaker phone to provide a continuous, long-term connection has several drawbacks: in a noisy environment, it is difficult to know whether one's voice has carried or to know to pay attention to new voices emerging from the phone; long periods of silence make it easy to forget the device, which then takes on the unwanted quality of unobtrusive surveillance. By making the audio visible, VisiPhone turns the speakerphone into a portal between spaces: the existence of the connection is recognizable even in moments of silence and the dynamics and inflections of the conversation are made salient by the expressive power of the abstract visualization. VisiPhone's graphics do not portray the technical aspects of sound (as do, for example, the audio renderings seen in sound-mixing boards); its purpose is rather to enhance awareness. |
||
speaker A speaker B |
 |
|
speaker A speaker B |
 |
|
both speakers |
 |
|
VisiPhone displays two parallel visualizations, one derived from the local sound reaching the device (input audio) and the other from the sound emanating from it (output audio). We are experimenting with several designs for the visualizations. For example, one basic design depicts filtered frequency with hue, creating bursts of color when someone is speaking. With this display, one is able to see at a glance if someone is speaking at the other end and can tell if one's own voice has carried over the ambient noise to audibly reach the listeners at the other end. VisiPhone displays both the real-time audio and a brief history of the conversation. The real-time rendering takes place on the top portion of the dome while the history graphics slowly travel to the bottom of the dome through a rotating spiral path. The colors of the history graphics fade out as they approach the bottom part of the dome, enhancing the notion of evolving time. |
||
 |
||
VisiPhone's display is a translucent dome sitting on a pedestal. The graphics are projected into the dome from below. The dome shape makes it an interface in the round: one can view it from any side. This is essential for an object meant to create a connection between two inhabited, real-world spaces in which people move about. The design of the dome itself is also a key element in this multimodal interface and its size, location, and appearance influence its use and its ability to portray the sense of awareness and continuous connection in the space. Our goal is to create an aesthetic object that enables users to perceive conversational patterns that are present but not obvious in traditional communication interfaces. |
||
|
