THESIS PROPOSAL
This project investigates and leads the design and development of an innovative over‑ear headphones, integrating emerging audio and wearable technologies while exploring new methods of presenting these features through a distinctive and visual-focused design approach.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How can I prove concept through a product, combining auditory and optical senses, using modern advancements in Organic LED displays while listening to portable music?
How can a product, traditionally used to relay sound, collaborate with visual components resulting in an interactive multimedia device offering the user customization options?
MISSION STATEMENT
ARORA | INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DISPLAY WIRELESS HEADPHONES
Revolutionizing conventional over ear headphone designs by fusing auditory and visual experiences, resulting in a new form of wearable technology. By rethinking the delivery mechanism of portable music, ARORA will create a statement through a visionary rich-media device. Reframing over ear headphones as an optical experience, allows for a new collaboration between music and multimedia. The user and non-users’ interactions are amplified through enhanced spectacular outward displays.
Advancements in flexible Organic LED (OLED) will give the product superior levels of interactivity than ever before. The dynamic acoustics and well balanced sound quality will accompany the innovative design. With cloud support enabling upgradable firmware and third-party software, the headphone concept becomes a personal expression of social identity for the user. ARORA headphones will provide individuals a new medium for self-expression through interactive multimedia displays.
MFA Thesis Show | Columbus College of Art & Design
Only perspective MFA graduate student to present work during final show.
OBJECTIVE
To combine interactive screens with over-ear headphones. Using Organic LED screens, commonly seen in smartphones and TV’s, with standard headphone acoustics to generate a new experience for the user and non-user.
A proprietary app & Bluetooth technology created for the ARORA Brand will control the interactive screens.
Click to view video through Vimeo
CONCLUSION | INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DISPLAY | WIRELESS HEADPHONES
ARORA is a concept which creates a visionary rich media device by combining optical and auditory senses through the collaboration between interactive Organic LED displays and dynamic sound. The resulting product is an interactive multimedia display over ear headphone.
Spring 2016 | Final Semester Work
Fall 2015 | Semester Work
I began the semester focused on continuing my exploration of new technologies to visualize sounds. My love for music led me to create concept sketches dealing with devices that produce sound, headphones. My research, using the Stanford Process, informed me about the market, users and potential demographic. Using Autodesk Maya, I developed 3D concepts to expand on my sketches. I applied Sculpey to fabricate mock-ups of the computer-generated forms. The sculpted forms allowed me to get a better sense of the product. All the different stages paved the way for the digital screens on the outside of the headphones. Using Adobe after Effects, I animated a rough scenario of the types of display options the user/non-user would experience. End of the semester review consists of sketches, sculpted mock-ups, digital prints and animated video.
Spring 2015 | Semester Work
Radio-less Flyers
After I completed my 1st semester experimentation with sound, new media & alternative printing methods, I progressed to this series. I looked at a genre of music I am connected to, while emphasizing a culture that was so heavily reliant on the voice.
I proceeded to replace all the text with the visual representation of the sound. I wanted to see how the context of the flyers changed. To me, the images are so iconic; while transporting me to a particular time in my life, the lack of text doesn’t affect the way I view the flyers. I used scrap pieces of paper, sharpies and tape. To stay true to the era and punk music, I photocopied the pieces going back to the salad days…BPS (Before Photoshop).
What happens to words when there is no tone, articulation or emotion? This came from many misinterpreted text messages. I read and interpreted messages how I wanted, leaving too much room for misinterpretation. Sound, the voice, becomes important again.
Software, Technology & Materials
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere
Adobe Illustrator
Laser Printer | Fabrication Lab | CCAD
Large Format Printer
Wood | Mat-board | Luster Paper
Fall 2014 | Semester Work
My work this semester began with an investigation into three‑dimensional computer‑generated models composited into static digital photographs. The initial emphasis was on analyzing how physically based lighting systems interact with various surface materials in order to achieve photo‑realistic visual outcomes through digital reconstruction. As the semester progressed, my inquiry expanded toward new media practices that move digital imagery beyond the screen and into tangible forms. This shift led to a focused exploration of the visual depiction of audio and sound. With contemporary technological advancements positioning the human voice as an increasingly significant mode of nonverbal communication, my research examines methods of translating auditory phenomena into visual form across multiple material and representational mediums.
