I Hear You (2021) / Printed Probe Kit.
For this project I wanted to learn about different ways we perceive our surroundings from modes of sensual stimulations. From cognition to empathy. Sound as the subject of this exercise is a familiar and accessible way to connect to the users because of its universal and omnipresent quality in our everyday experience. In the study of cognitive science, it's been observed that through adolescence we develop a self engaged understanding of the external surrounding from cross modality of senses.
Seeing sound or assigning colors to words and dates are common ways we understand the world around us uniquely. This project asks its participants to emulate such synesthetic abilities that allows individuals to visualize sound with an integrated drawing and coloring exercise. Objectively, the returned probes should reflect a completely personal and uniquely creative understanding of individual experience to their surroundings.
“I Hear You”
From Research to Development.
1. Modes of simulations - The 5 senses
Understanding the concept of of stimulation to behavior is often understood differently from person to person. In order for this project to feel seamless in its required sensual description, I had mapped out a step by step linear representation of stimulus to response for the senses, with research in the area of psychology.
Reception ---> Stimulus ---> Sensation ---> Behavior ---> Response
2. Synesthesia - what does it mean to feel?
With this info in mind, we can recognize the middleground of sensation is where we convert the raw nature of kinetic signal into an abstract feeling, which progresses into a response.
Study of synesthesia became relevant to understand this abstract relationship of the participants’ to their everyday life. Synesthesia is common among children and it's known to fade away as they mature. Experience of cross modalities from single stimulus is understood as a learning mechanism for adolescents connecting these sensations to emotional values which develops individualized patterns of responses over time.
Relating sound as both sonic and visual experience is common but not only limited to.
3. How to design for stimuli = empathize - Individualized interpretation to senses
Then how can we become more perceptive of others’ experience?
This project took inspiration from study cards used to memorize words/concepts; commonly used among university students. Using these palm sized cards, students take advantage of colors and simple sketches of far complex ideas to memorize concepts.
We wanted to learn about our participants’ relationship to their everyday surroundings; how they think about spaces both conceptually and emotionally. To achieve this response, we used sound as an opportunity for self reflective observation tool, situating the user beyond simple objectivity about the space. Users are asked to observe various sounds from their everyday places and write an adjective, draw a sketch of the location and color them according to how they interpret the sounds.
Instructional guide.
Importance in straight forward steps and approachable design reminding space to personalize.
Activity cards.
Like most conventional study cards, recorded materials are self reflective of user’s understanding of the word/concept.
Responses and real world findings.
We were pleasantly surprised to see expressive ways that our participants described their spaces. Returned cards were reflective of how they thought about their relationship to the Location, taken from combination of a word, form and impressions of color. One participant saw open space of their school “pure” and “free.” without particular color (or white), but another user described it as “droning”and “cold” with sounds close to indigo and blue.
Impressionistic ways of use of colors were widely used to highlight certain peak of attention or sense of discomfort in other cases. Interesting uses in intensity of colors and margins which fill the spaces were able to visualize quality of sounds and ways participants immersed themselves around the space.
