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Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע by Tobias Kappeler

Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע by Tobias Kappeler is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award אין אײַזן in מאָבילע טעכנאָלאָגיעס, אַפּליקאַציעס און סאָפֿטוואַר דיזײַן Competition Category.


אײַזןמאָביל· 2022

Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע

by Tobias Kappeler

Client: Tobias Kappeler Design

A' Design Award אין אײַזן Winner in מאָביל Category

21,937

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #127093

Colors

The Design

About Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע

דינקום איז אַ מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע פֿאַר ספּאַציאַלער אַודיאָ קאָמוניקאַציע. דינקום שטעלט אַוועקגעלעגענע שמועסן אַרײַן אין צוגעפּאַסטע אַודיאָ סבֿיבֿות. באַניצער קענען אויסקלײַבן איינע פֿון דרײַ צימער-גרויסן, באַשריבן ווי אינטים, קאַזשואַל און אַדווענטשעראָוס. באַניצער קענען אויך אויסקלײַבן אַמביסאָנישע הינטערגרונט-קלאַנגען, אַ פֿולע-ספֿערע סעראַונד-סאַונד פֿאָרמאַט, וואָס פּאַסט צום טיפּ פֿון שמועס און די באַטייליקטע. די דיסטאַנץ צו אַנדערע באַטייליקטע קען ווערן געביטן בעת דעם רוף. דער ציל איז צו פֿאַרגרעסערן דעם געפֿיל פֿון אָנוועזנקייט און מאַכן אַוועקגעלעגענע שמועסן מער נאַטירלעך און פֿליסיק.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award אין אײַזן

Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע איז אַ געווינער פֿון דעם A' Design Award אין אײַזן, אַן פּרעסטיזשע אָנערקענונג וואָס ווערט געגעבן צו גוטע דיזײַנס וואָס טרעפֿן די פּראָפֿעסיאָנעלע און ינדוסטריעלע פֿאָדערונגען וואָס מען דערוואַרט פֿון גוט-דיזײַנטע באַשאַפֿונגען. אײַזן-געווינער ווײַזן גרויסע בקיאות, הויכע ספּעציאַליזאַציע, מומחה-פֿאַרשטאַנד און קרעאַטיווע פֿעיִקייט פֿון זייערע שאַפֿער. פֿון Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע ווערט דערוואַרט אַז עס איז אַ הויך געשעצטע, באַוווּנדערטע און ליבע באַשאַפֿונג וואָס איז פּראַקטיש און אינאָוואַטיוו. דער דאָזיקער געווינענדיקער דיזײַן פֿון A' Design Award אין אײַזן פֿאַראײניקט די בעסטע פּראַקטיקן פֿון דער ענף און האָט בקיאותדיקע טעכנישע אייגנשאַפֿטן פֿאַרבונדן מיט וויסן און טאַלאַנט. Dinkum מאָבילע אַפּליקאַציע ווערט געערט פֿאַר זײַן גרינטלעכקייט און איז דיזײַנט צו פּראָווידן פֿאַרבעסערונגען פֿון לעבנס-קוואַליטעט וואָס העלפֿן מאַכן די וועלט צו אַ בעסערן אָרט.

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

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