Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli by Tobias Kappeler

Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli by Tobias Kappeler is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid in Disinn tat-Teknoloġiji Mobbli, Applikazzjonijiet u Software Competition Category.

ĦadidMobbli· 2022

Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli

by Tobias Kappeler

Client: Tobias Kappeler Design

Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid Winner in Mobbli Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli

Dinkum hija applikazzjoni mobbli għal komunikazzjoni awdjo spazjali. Dinkum tqiegħed konversazzjonijiet mill-bogħod ġewwa ambjenti awdjo li jistgħu jiġu kkustomizzati. L-utenti jistgħu jagħżlu waħda minn tliet daqsijiet ta' kamra, deskritti bħala intimi, kaswali u avventuruża. L-utenti jistgħu wkoll jagħżlu ħsejjes ta' sfond ambisoniċi, format ta' ħoss ta' madwar b'sfera sħiħa, li jaqblu mat-tip ta' konversazzjoni u mal-parteċipanti. Id-distanza minn parteċipanti oħra tista' tinbidel matul is-sejħa. L-għan huwa li tiżdied is-sensazzjoni ta' preżenza u li l-konversazzjonijiet mill-bogħod isiru aktar naturali u fluwidi.

The Recognition

About the Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid

Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli huwa rebbieħ tal-Premju A' Design Award tal-Ħadid, rikonoxximent prestiġjuż mogħti lil disinji tajbin li jissodisfaw ir-rekwiżiti professjonali u industrijali mistennija minn ħolqien imfassal tajjeb. Ir-rebbieħa tal-Ħadid juru l-ħila kbira, l-ispeċjalizzazzjoni għolja, il-fehim espert u l-kapaċità kreattiva tal-ħallieqa tagħhom. Huwa mistenni li Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli ikun ħolqien imqabbar ħafna, mammirat u maħbub li huwa prattiku u innovattiv. Dan id-disinn rebbieħ tal-Ħadid jintegra l-aħjar prattiki tal-industrija u għandu karatteristiċi tekniċi kompetenti marbuta mal-għarfien u t-talent. Dinkum Applikazzjoni Mobbli huwa rispettat għall-eżattezza tiegħu u mfassal biex itejjeb il-kwalità tal-ħajja u jgħin jagħmel id-dinja post aħjar.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: Dinkum is a spatial audio communication tool that allows users to immerse themselves in customisable audio environments. Users can select from three room sizes (intimate, casual, adventurous) and different ambisonic (full-sphere surround sound format) background sounds that match the type of conversation and people they are speaking to. People can change their distance to other participants throughout the conversation, which adds an extra layer of interaction to remote conversations. Dinkum can increase participants sense of presence and intimacy in the conversation and increase conversation fluency.
Dimensions & Packaging: Dinkum was developed using the 3D Tune-In Toolkit real-time binaural spatialisation tool. This was utilised as a VST plugin within Ableton Live. The 3D Tune in Toolkit simulates the reverberation of different room sizes, the distance to the listener and the direction to the sound source. For user testing, I’ve developed a signal processing path that allows me to send an audio recording from a binaural microphone through Zoom.
Tags: Communication, Spatial Audio, Interaction design, Immersive experiences, Audio & Sound, Mobile application, Teleconferencing, Conversations,
Production Technology: The project was developed through iterative prototyping, intensive user testing and a strong collaboration between academia and industry. I used different plugins for the spatialisation of mono audio files in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and tested the experiences with different people. Furthermore, I built a binaural microphone for in-depth user testing with multiple people. I established a signal-processing path that allowed me to test with various users while being remote.
Design Challenge: The challenge was to create an environment that allowed me to test with the necessary fidelity and change the audio in real-time. An additional challenge was the visual representation of a 3D space with characters on a small smartphone screen which is easy to understand, interact with and is visually pleasing and unique. I overcame this through prototyping the interactions on the phone while affecting the audio and visual interface in real-time through OSC protocol and user feedback.
Research: The project started with an academic literature review and interviews on real-time spatialisation technologies. After intensive ideation on different applications, I moved into early experimentation and prototyping to get a better feel and understanding of the technology and its value. I used an iterative and human-centred design approach focusing on the experience. Experiments were analyzed with questionnaires with a Likert scale focusing on the presence and intimacy.
Inspiration: Throughout the pandemic, I realised the difficulties of remote collaboration and the lack of attention to the audio side of the experience. We are flooded with visual stimuli but a lot of these experiences lack the emotional aspect of the experience. User research and secondary research into spatial audio technologies strongly informed the development. As a music producer and DJ, I’m fascinated by the emotional characteristics of audio.
Project Duration: The project started in January 2021 and was developed by myself for my MA/MSc Innovation Design Engineering until June 2021. The project will be exhibited at the yearly graduation show of the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London in June 2021.
Operation Flow: To start a conversation, select the participants you want to speak to, select the room size which matches your conversations and participants, (Intimate, Casual, Adventurous) select the ambisonic background sounds and then start the call. Users can leave the room and create a new room during the conversations with individual participants. For recurring conversations, users can save groups and settings. In case a conversation drastically changes the topic.
Team Members: Tobias Kappeler