Exploring the use of 3D-sound awareness as a city safety system in cars
My master thesis aimed at exploring the possibilities of using 3D-sound awareness in cars. Car manufacturers continuously work on making the in-car compartment more quieter. This can create a decrease of traffic awareness which can be hazardous for traffic safety. An information system for presenting vehicles and persons around you in city traffic is suggested to enhance the traffic awareness. Since traffic information today mainly is presented visually and auditory sense is only used for warnings, there is a great potential to create an auditory system to enhance the traffic awareness. To investigate the possibilities for such a system we developed three types of sounds and tested the sound perception ability of the sounds through a set of user tests. The most successful sounds where chosen to further test the system in a car simulator to examine the acceptance of such a system. Naturalistic sounds and naturalistic sounds which where enhanced through sound manipulation where found to work better than synthetic sounds with corresponding characteristics with the original object. The perception of direction and movement did not seem to differ substantially between the different types of sounds. The simulator test showed great acceptance for the proposed system and showed potential in the use of auditory information systems in cars. Further research should focus on more realistic user tests, prioritizing objects which are displayed and investigate how many objects that can be displayed at the same time with maintained awareness.
The Insbeerator
This search engine concept sprung from the problem that most online search engines are designed for an analytical search strategy. The user should know what he/she looks for and perform the actions according to the search engine semantics. This is in many cases not true, the user are simply interested in exploring a certain subject, product, field etc. Therefore we created a search engine for beers, using the Systembolaget webpage as a template for how not to design it, and used the theories of browsing strategies in search engines as a framework for our design. The logo borrows its design language from a old brewery style of design, but with a bit more stylized feel to it. I also designed a set of icons for the website, these where all in the same style as the two shown, representing different properties.
adIT
adIT is a consumer service and a new way of advertisement. For example, the user ads a reminder to buy lens fluid, and when the user come close to a optician, the users gets a message. This solves the problem of having to drive or walk all the way back to the store you just went by, and can also give you tips of things which are of your specific interest. At the same time, companies can pinpoint potential customers and send ads which never misses. This logo is for the ad-selling part of the company. A man shouting at the crowd, but with the advantage that he has a scope on his megaphone. This was also a student project.
Play it again, SAM!
Play It Again, SAM! is all about music, pictures and to make people remember things, places and feelings from the past. The idea is to place a new and inventive kind of jukebox at pubs or cafes. The jukebox looks and feels like an old arcade machine, with a user interface that resembles the once on arcade machines. It functions just like a jukebox. A visitor at a pub or a cafe has the possibility to request songs by interacting with the jukebox. The songs are put in a queue and played according to the order they where requested in.
When a song is played pictures are display all around the premises. The pictures can be shoved on TV-screens, displays or directly on a wall with the help of a projector. The unique idea with the project is that the music that are played and the pictures that are shown are connected to each other via years. This means that when a song from 1968 is played pictures from the same year are displayed on the screens that are situated around the premises. The pictures are displayed in a slideshow, which changes after a predetermined amount of time. The pictures are displayed randomly for every song that is played. The purpose of showing a slideshow is to enhance the music experience and to bring forth another sense in the total experience. The pictures show major events of the year that is currently playing. There are a few categories of pictures, sports, news, political events and entertainment.
