Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award Rino in Hoahoa Taonga Tākaro, Kēmu me ngā Hua Runaruna Competition Category.

RinoTaonga Tākaro· 2024

Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa

by Haoye Dong, Kecheng Jin and Xueyan Cai

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award Rino Winner in Taonga Tākaro 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 Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa

Kōrero Pukapuka: Ko Poly Beat he taonga whakapakari manawa i hangaia mō ngā tamariki. Ka whakamahia ngā āhua tapawhā maha kia kitea ai te manawa puoro, hei āwhina i ngā tamariki ki te mātau ki ngā oro me ngā tauira manawa. I hangaia te taonga nei mai i te kirihou werohia-whakaahua. Ka kuhuna e ngā tamariki ngā poro oro ki roto i ngā porowhita, ka whakanohoia ngā porowhita e whā ki roto i te tūāpapa pou. Ka pānui he kāmera kei runga i ngā tae o ngā poro, ā, mā tētahi pātene e whakatangi te oro manawa e rite ana. Mā tētahi pātene tuarua e huri te oro ki te drum, marimba, piana, gitā rānei. Mā te whakahiato kōwhiri o ngā poro ka taea e ngā tamariki te waihanga i ō rātou ake manawa.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Rino

Ko Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa te toa o te A' Design Award Rino, he whakaaetanga whai mana e hoatu ana ki ngā hoahoa pai e whakatutuki ana i ngā hiahia ngaio me te ahumahi e tūmanakohia ana mai i ngā mahi kua hoahoatia pai. Ko ngā toa Rino e whakaatu ana i te pukenga nui, te tohungatanga teitei, te māramatanga mātanga me te kaha auaha o ō rātou kaihanga. E tūmanakohia ana ko Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa he mahi whakanuia, whakamīharotia, aroha nui, he whaihua, he auaha hoki. Ko tēnei hoahoa i toa i te Rino e whakakotahi ana i ngā tikanga pai rawa o te ahumahi, ā, he āhuatanga hangarau pūkenga tōna e hono ana ki te mōhio me te pūmanawa. E whakahonoretia ana a Poly Beat Te Taumahi Matua: Taonga Whakapakari Manawa mō tōna tōtika, ā, i hoahoatia hei whakapai ake i te kounga o te oranga me te āwhina i te ao kia pai ake.

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