Poly Beat リズム練習トイ by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Poly Beat リズム練習トイ by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award 鉄賞 in 玩具・ゲーム・ホビー製品デザイン Competition Category.

鉄玩具· 2024

Poly Beat リズム練習トイ

by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award 鉄賞 Winner in 玩具 Category

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Verified Award Winner

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Poly Beat リズム練習トイ

Poly Beatは、子どものためにデザインされたリズム練習トイです。幾何学的な多角形を用いて音楽のリズムを可視化し、子どもが音符やリズムパターンを理解できるよう手助けします。素材には射出成形プラスチックを使用しています。子どもは音符ブロックをディスクに差し込み、4枚のディスクを支柱状のベースにセットします。上部のカメラがブロックの色を読み取り、ボタンを押すとそれに対応したリズム音が再生されます。もう一つのボタンでは、音色をドラム、マリンバ、ピアノ、ギターへと切り替えられます。ブロックを自由に組み合わせることで、子どもは自分だけのリズムを生み出すことができます。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 鉄賞

Poly Beat リズム練習トイは、よく設計された創造物に期待される専門的・産業的要件を満たす優れたデザインに授与される、権威ある評価である A' Design Award 鉄賞の受賞作品です。鉄賞の受賞作品は、制作者の高い技量、高度な専門性、専門家としての理解、創造的な能力を示しています。Poly Beat リズム練習トイは、高く評価され、称賛され、愛される、実用的で革新的な創造物であることが期待されます。この A' Design Award 鉄賞を受賞したデザインは、業界のベストプラクティスを統合し、ノウハウと才能に結びついた有能な技術的特性を備えています。Poly Beat リズム練習トイは、その徹底ぶりで尊敬され、世界をより良い場所にするための生活の質の向上をもたらすよう設計されています。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: PolyBeat is designed for children, aiming to help them learn music theory through a fun and interactive way. Geometric polygons have a strong correlation with music rhythm, which can visualize the sound of rhythm, help children understand the relationship between music genres and drum rhythm patterns, and figure out the rhythm pattern.
Dimensions & Packaging: The dimension of the product is 140mm*140mm*280mm, and the dimensions of each disc are 130mm*130mm*18mm
Tags: Music Interaction Tool, Multi-sensory, Children, Visualization, Rhythm Learning
Production Technology: The product is made of injection-moulded plastic and uses a camera on the top to identify the colour of the blocks that the child is building, so that the corresponding music can be played.
Design Challenge: PolyBeat offers children with a new multi-sensory way to learn rhythm and provides an easy-to-use tool for children to create music . However, the musical score also includes pitches and more complex advanced beats. We did not evaluate whether PolyBeat can have a long-term impact on children’s learning and interests. We will conduct a long-term follow-up study to further evaluate the practical effects of PolyBeat in music education. In the future, we could consider how to better integrate PolyBeat into real-world scenarios, such as home and school, to expand the possibilities of multi-player collaboration.
Research: Orff Schulwerk teaching method encourages that children should feel and express music with whole heart and improvisation. But understanding the abstract concept of musical notes is still very difficult. We propose PolyBeat, a toy that provides interactive rhythm practice and creation for children. The tool visualizes the abstract notes in a multi-sensory way to develop children’s musicality with a more interesting, gamified learning procedure. We designed 8 types of tangible blocks which can be stacked like a rainbow tower to represent basic notes, distinguished with different colors and block sizes. Children can play in two modes: a) learning mode and b) creation mode. We conducted a user study to evaluate children’s rhythmic control. The results show that PolyBeat significantly stimulated children’s interest in playing music, thus improving the efficiency of children’s rhythmic education and creativity in music.
Inspiration: For preschool children, they can try simple clapping and tapping exercises based on music. However, the current music education system requires learners to repeat the exercises many times, which is boring and tedious for them. Building blocks are always a favourite type of toy for children, so we wanted children to be able to learn and create music through the use of building blocks.
Project Duration: The project started in April 2023 in Zhejiang, China and finished in August 2023 in Zhejiang, China
Operation Flow: Children can assemble the blocks freely to create their own rhythms. The child inserts each music note block into the disc, and then puts the disc into the column base. After 4 discs are put into the column base, the child can press the "Play Music" button to play the corresponding rhythmic sound. When the child presses the "Switch Instrument" button, the rhythmic sound can be switched to different instruments, including drums, marimba, piano, guitar, and so on.
Team Members: Leijing Zhou
Haoye Dong
Kecheng Jin
Xueyan Cai
Shichao Huang
Zhengke Li
Xin An
Shang Shi
Xiaolong Li
Yuqi Hu
Cheng Yao
Image Credits: Haoye Dong
Kecheng Jin