Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka by Tobias Kappeler

Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka by Tobias Kappeler is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Irin A' Design Award in Àpẹẹrẹ Ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ Alágbèéká, Ohun-èlò Fóònù àti Sọ́fítíwéà Competition Category.

IrinAlágbèéká· 2022

Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka

by Tobias Kappeler

Client: Tobias Kappeler Design

Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Irin A' Design Award Winner in Alágbèéká Category

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The Design

About Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka

Dinkum jẹ́ ohun elo alagbeka fún ìbánisọ̀rọ̀ ohùn onípò-ìdí (spatial audio). Dinkum máa ń fi àwọn ìjíròrò láti ọ̀nà jíjìn sínú àyíká ohùn tí a lè ṣàtúnṣe. Àwọn olùmúlò lè yan ọ̀kan lára àwọn ìwọ̀n yàrá mẹ́ta, tí a ṣàpèjúwe gẹ́gẹ́ bí timọ́tímọ́, aláìlówó-ọkàn, àti aláṣàmúlò-ìrìn-àjò. Àwọn olùmúlò náà tún lè yan àwọn ohùn abúlé ambisonic, tí í ṣe ọ̀nà ohùn yíká pátápátá (full sphere surround sound), tí ó bá ìru ìjíròrò àti àwọn tí ó kópa mu. Ààrin àyè sí àwọn olùkópa mìíràn ni a lè yí padà nígbà tí ìpè náà bá ń lọ. Ète náà ni láti mú ìmọ̀lára wíwàníhìn-ín pọ̀ sí i àti láti mú kí àwọn ìjíròrò láti ọ̀nà jíjìn di adánidá àti ṣíṣàn dáadáa sí i.

The Recognition

About the Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Irin A' Design Award

Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka jẹ́ olùborí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Irin A' Design Award, ìdánimọ̀ olókìkí tí a fún àwọn àwòṣe tó dára tí wọ́n pàdé àwọn ohun tí iṣẹ́ àti ilé-iṣẹ́ nílò tí a retí láti ọ̀dọ̀ àwọn ẹ̀dá tí a ṣàwòṣe dáradára. Àwọn olùborí Irin ń fi ìjáfáfá ńlá, ìmọ̀ pàtó gíga, òye ògbóǹtarìgì àti agbára ìṣẹ̀dá àwọn olùṣẹ̀dá wọn hàn. A retí pé Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka yóò jẹ́ ẹ̀dá tí a kà sí gidigidi, tí a gbóríyìn fún tí a sì nífẹ̀ẹ́, tó wúlò tó sì ní ìmúṣẹ̀dá tuntun. Àwòṣe tó borí Àmì-ẹ̀yẹ Irin A' Design Award yìí ń kó àwọn ọ̀nà tó dára jùlọ ilé-iṣẹ́ jọ, ó sì ní àwọn ànímọ́ ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ tó péye tí a so mọ́ ìmọ̀ ṣíṣe àti ẹ̀bùn. A bọ̀wọ̀ fún Dinkum Ohun elo Alagbeka nítorí ìfọ̀kànbalẹ̀ rẹ̀, a sì ṣàwòṣe rẹ̀ láti pèsè ìmúdára ìgbésí ayé tó ń ran ayé lọ́wọ́ láti di ibi tó dára jù.

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