Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감 by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감 by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award 철상 in 완구, 게임 및 취미 제품 디자인 Competition Category.

철완구· 2024

Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감

by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award 철상 Winner in 완구 Category

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감

Poly Beat는 어린이를 위해 디자인된 리듬 학습 장난감이다. 기하학적 다각형을 활용해 음악의 리듬을 눈으로 볼 수 있게 표현함으로써, 어린이가 음표와 리듬 패턴을 이해하도록 돕는다. 이 장난감은 사출 성형 플라스틱으로 제작되었다. 어린이는 음표 블록을 원판에 끼우고, 네 개의 원판을 기둥형 베이스에 꽂는다. 상단의 카메라가 블록의 색상을 인식하며, 버튼 하나를 누르면 해당하는 리듬 사운드가 재생된다. 두 번째 버튼으로는 드럼, 마림바, 피아노, 기타로 음색을 전환할 수 있다. 블록을 자유롭게 조합하여 어린이가 자신만의 리듬을 만들어낼 수 있다.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 철상

Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감, 이 작품은 A' Design Award 철상 수상작으로, 잘 디자인된 창작물에 기대되는 전문적·산업적 요건을 충족하는 좋은 디자인에 수여되는 권위 있는 인정입니다. 철상 수상작은 창작자의 뛰어난 기술, 높은 전문성, 전문가다운 이해, 창의적 역량을 보여 줍니다. Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감, 이 작품은 높이 평가받고 감탄과 사랑을 받는 창작물로서 실용적이고 혁신적일 것으로 기대됩니다. 이 철상 수상 디자인은 업계 모범 사례를 통합하며 노하우와 재능으로 연결된 유능한 기술적 특성을 갖추고 있습니다. Poly Beat 리듬 학습 장난감, 이 작품은 철저함으로 존중받으며 삶의 질을 개선하여 세상을 더 나은 곳으로 만들도록 디자인되었습니다.

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