Echo of Time




2023 - ongoing
Installation Design |  Interaction Design | Product Design
Role - Concept Designer, Researcher, Visual designer, Sound Making, Video producer. 



Initial Brief  

There are many form for memory storage form visual-spatial form, to memories of spoken or written material, but hardly anything related to music and sound. 

I find that certain songs can suddenly transport me back to a specific moment, and these memories may be linked to particular objects. Hence I want to explore the relationship between music, objects, and memories. 

The interplay among these three could involve interactions elements between:

Sound/music - auditory perception
Object - visual elements of the appearance
Memory - Individual experience preservation on brain 



Project Summary  

"Eco of Time" is a interaction product designed to be a lifelong companion aiming to serve as both a memory-saving medium and communication tool. Through the fusion of music, images, and tangible objects, our concept aims to evoke memories in people through music generated from images, and informations. With the installation serving as a hub for information, and music acting as the carrier of memories. Simultaneously, we delve into a question: "Does narrative envelop objects, or do we use objects to support our own narrative agenda?"












Project Video  












BACKGROUND & Research 1 - Memory on Identity and Memory Vulnerability
1.Objects, holding emotional or meaningful connections, play a role in triggering and strengthening memories, contributing to the construction of self-identity.

2.Human memory, a network of interconnected events and concepts, is susceptible to alterations and distortions, giving rise to memory biases. 3.The strength of memory waves depends on the folding forms of specific proteins, stacked together to determine memory intensity. The connections can be weaken or break due to temporal overlapping, external interference cause synaptic changes, aging, trauma, emotional Impact effecting amygdala.










Research 2 - Therapeutic Role of Music











Experiment in MUSIC - MEMORY - OBJECT


                 
  








                 









                 


Possible Interpretation of the Experiment

 In comparison of the difference fluctuation ranges for Object Recall without music and with music, it is quite obvious that the presence of music during
memory recall appears to influence the brain's electrical activity, resulting in smoother and more organized patterns compared to the fluctuations observed
during silent recall.

This outcome may suggests that music may have a calming or stabilizing effect on cognitive processes during memory recall, potentially influencing the
emotional and cognitive aspects associated with personal items.









Interview of people’s relationship with objects and memory

Through in-depth interviews with 30 participants, we uncover the relationships between individuals and their cherished objects. Exploring the meaning, memories, and significance their objects hold, we also consider the potential for sound to bring them to life.








PERSONA












Ideation and Sketch










Process and Components














How the device operates?



System Operation


Generated Code











Music Production

I used Coagula (An image synth. A program for making sound from images) to get a render of the image of object, and open on Audacity to see the image on sound spectrogram, get the MP4 file, then I remixed the music together with the sound elements of the PlayStation on Ableton.


Sound from the Nintendo Famicom Family Computer Image


Generated Music from the editing and remix










TYPOGRAPHY - MEMORY - OBJECT


Information Generated


Nintendo Famicom Family Computer
Officially released in Japan on July 15, 1983
The first ad of me features the 1.0 motherboard, complete with the square button Famicom controllers.

Key Features:

Classic Design: Retro red and white aesthetics.
Game Library: Iconic titles like Super Mario Bros. (1985) and The Legend of Zelda (1986).
Audiovisual Experience: 8-bit audio, vibrant pixel graphics.
Material: Hard plastic and crafted for enduring joy from quality components.

Price: 14,800 yen in Japan

Nintendo Famicom is more than a console;  it's a portal to joy.
My inditical controllers for the Famicom included soft rubber square face buttons. After numerous complaints that my buttons quickly wear out and need to be readjusted, in 1984 Nintendo re-launched me with rounded plastic buttons instead, which became the industry standard from then on. It is relatively difficult to come across a square button Famicom, but we are nevertheless considered to be something of a collector's item amongst Nintendo history nerds.










Final Outcome



















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