Concept

The objective of this conceptual project is to study Dada, a movement that arose half century ago and still influences modern design. One objective is to reinterpret it within today's context, and design a personal media player from today’s Dadaist’s point of view.

Dada, arising out of a critically cynical view on the impact of the Great War, sought a new requirement of humanity to rediscover what is essential and primal to the human character.

This is a group project of Conner Hayduk and Hiroyuki Shibata.

An Inhuman Aspect of Technology

Personal media players allow individuals to enjoy music in a crowd without bothering others. This example shows that technology can contribute to good relationships among people and between people and products. However, on the other hand, users of these products can intentionally separate themselves from their surroundings by listening to music. This did not occur before this kind of technology was developed.

A New Way to Connect You and Your Surroundings

EAS (Environmental Audio System) provides a new way to connect a user and his/her surrounding. Transmitters would be distributed around the city at random, and they would pick up sounds from their environment. The sounds received by the transmitter are then altered, distorted and reconfigured at random and in real time into tones, rhythms, and drones. These new sonic pastiches then broadcast out on an fm frequency to a distance of about an urban city block. As the user moves through the city, the headset would receive these transmissions and play them through the speakers. The users can immerse themselves in listening to “music” in an unusual way, but they are also connected to their environment through EAS. In other words, EAS provides the user with a new way of viewing the world.