Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application by Tobias Kappeler

Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application by Tobias Kappeler is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award in Moralo wa Theknoloji ya Mehala, Diaplikeishene le Softwere Competition Category.

TšepeMohala· 2022

Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application

by Tobias Kappeler

Client: Tobias Kappeler Design

Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award Winner in Mohala Category

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The Design

About Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application

Dinkum ke application ya mobile bakeng sa puisano ya modumo wa sebaka (spatial audio). Dinkum e beha dipuisano tsa hole ka hare ho tikoloho ya modumo e ka fetolwang ho ya ka thato ya mosebedisi. Basebedisi ba ka kgetha bongata bo bong ho tse tharo tsa liphaposi, tse hlalosoang e le tse haufi (intimate), tse tlwaelehileng (casual) le tse phephetsang (adventurous). Basebedisi ba boetse ba ka kgetha melumo ya nqalo e potolohileng ka botlalo (ambisonic), e leng mokgwa wa modumo o dikologang ka bophara bo felletseng, o tshwanang le mofuta wa puisano le bankakarolo. Sekgele ho ya ho bankakarolo ba bang se ka fetolwa nakong ya mohala. Sepheo ke ho eketsa boemo ba ho ikutlwa o le teng le ho etsa hore dipuisano tsa hole di be tsa tlhaho le tse phallang hantle.

The Recognition

About the Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award

Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application ke mohapi oa Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award, kananelo e hlomphehang e fuoang meralo e metle e finyellang litlhoko tsa porofeshenale le tsa indasteri tse lebelletsoeng ho lintho tse hlahisitsoeng tse entsoeng hantle. Bahapi ba Tšepe ba bontša bokhoni bo boholo, bokhethehi bo phahameng, kutloisiso ea litsebi le bokhoni ba boqapi ba baqapi ba bona. Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application e lebelletsoe ho ba ntho e hlahisitsoeng e hlomphuoang haholo, e ratoang le e ratehang, e sebetsang le e nang le mehopolo e mecha. Moralo ona o hapileng Moputso oa Tšepe oa A' Design Award o kenyelletsa mekhoa e metle ka ho fetesisa ea indasteri mme o na le litšobotsi tsa theknoloji tse nang le bokhoni tse amanang le tsebo le talenta. Ka lebaka la botlalo ba eona, Dinkum Tshebetso ya Mobile Application e tšoanelehela tlhompho mme e entsoe ho fana ka ntlafatso ea bophelo e thusang ho etsa hore lefatše le be sebaka se molemo.

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