PLAY SOUNDS WITH YOUR FOOT!
RESEARCH ········································································· CONCEPT & DEVELOPMENT ················································· DESIGN PROCESS ································································ FINAL PRODUCT
ATTRIBUTES ·············································································· TECH ·············································································· PATTERN & PACKAGING ··································································· COMMUNICATION ········································································
YOUR MOVES ARE YOUR SOUND. PLAY YOUR MUSIC, PLAY YOUR ROLE. Nowadays kids tend to spend a long time sitting passively in front of pc or television, therefore they need outer stimuli to light up their imagination. Step-a-beat is a wearable technology offering a tool to foster creativity through role playing, encouraging a healthier lifestyle by physical exercise, as well as promoting relationship between kids. The anklet is worn on the foot and, for every step the kid takes, it emits a sound according to the character selected previously. There are three settings including 6 different sounds each: fantasy, nature, transportation. With Step-a-beat kids can be wherever they want to be, whoever they want to be.
VALUES RESEARCH
DISCOVERING PROJECT CONTEXT: ETHNOGRAPHIC & DESK RESEARCH
VISION
CO-CREATION BE LIKE A KID
BUILD YOUR OWN WORLD MOVE FREELY IN THE SPACE SCENARIO
ACT IN SOUND CREATE IMAGINARY WORLD
WHERE: INDOOR (HOME,SCHOOL) WHO: 6-8Y KIDS ALONE OR IN GROUP WHAT: USE TECHNOLOGY TO IMAGINE
The design process was developed in three main steps. The first one was the researching phase, where we discovered more about the context through ethnographic and desk research. We gathered information about the museum, must shop, user and opportunities and then elaborate it. After that, we came out with the Co-creation vision: the idea was to ingage imagination and creativity in order to make up a story while playing. In the next phase we developed the theme of making up stories and acting together through role playing, but also the idea of moving freely in the space. We achieved it by using sound linked to movement, aided by technology.
CONCEPT Step-a-beat is a toy meant to encourage kids to move freely in the space and imagine stories at the same time. Thanks to the sound effects (onomatopeias) the kid hears, he is stimulated in creating stories and playing different characters. The toy allows children to jump into a new imaginary world, where they are the protagonists of the story. It also fosters the relationship between kids, that co-create their own game.
SIMPLE & FREE MOVEMENT
BODY ACTION
PLAY TOGETHER
IMAGINATION ROLE PLAYING
VALUES In nowadays 2.0 era, kids have become big experts about technology and they are used to spend most of their time sitting in front of the pc, playing with tablets or watching tv. This results in a lack of physical excercise as well as in a loss in creativity in making up stories. We believe that kids need to regain that simple spontaneity and vivacity, that’s why we created Step-a-beat, in order to stimulate the imagination process and to promote a healthier way of playing. Kids need to act like kids.
IMAGINATION
HEALTHIER
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT Giving shape to our concept has been a challenging process. We first asked ourselves a fundamental question: what kind of behaviour do we wanna trigger in kids using our toys? Of course, movement in the space and role playing through sounds. Eventually, we selected the foot as the part of the body to design for, because it’s the one that can provide the total freedom of movements and can be intrguing and interesting for children and parents.
DESIGN PROCESS For every step the kid takes, the sensor under the heel emits a sound. But selecting which sound was our primal concern. Our first attempt concerned the using of RFID sensor embedded in the anklet that would scan the patch attached on top, containing a special tag. We selected 18 sounds for 18 characters.
18 SOUNDS & PATCHES
DESIGN PROCESS In the following steps, we confronted ourselves with cost issues, so we decided to optimize the costs, simplyfing the shape of the patches to only one big comic style cloud and subsituting the RFID scan with a cheaper and simpler RGB Color sensor.
18 SOUNDS & PATCHES
DESIGN PROCESS In the latest phase of the song selection part, we changed again the technology involved. Since the color sensor required too much power source and was too bulky, we simplified even more and chose the same analogic technology used under the heel: the conductive fabric pressure sensor. Now it’s possible to select characters by only pressing the logo.
18 SOUNDS 3 SETS
FANTASY SET
NATURE SET
TRANSPORT SET
Step-a-beat was designed for children 6-8 years old to play indoor. The product was conceived in tree fabric layers. The first one is the exterior printed layer with the interface through whch kids can select a sound to play. The second is the soft lining where all the technological gadgets are sewed onto a layer of felt. The third one is inner layer and touches the child’s skin. While figuring out this sandwich of materials we had to take into account that the presence of technological components and wires would have required a wary choice in material picking as it needs to be non-conductive: reason why we chose polyester. Moreover, it is resistant to stretch and easy to clean with a wet cloth.
1st layer-polyester 2nd layer-electronic components on felt 3rd layer-polyester
HOW IT WORKS 6 CONDUCTIVE FABRIC BUTTONS
SPEAKER 3- When the pressure sensor is stepped on, Arduino plays the track corrispondant to the one selected previously
AMPLIFIER
CONDUCTIVE FABRIC PRESSURE SENSOR / VELOSTAT
1- By pressing the conductive fabric pressure sensor the kid chooses the character he/she wants to play
SD READER
ARDUINO NANO
LITHIUM BATTERY 1.5V 4- When the battery runs out, recharge it and play again
2- Conductive fabric pressure sensor under the heel detects the step of the kid and send the information to Arduino
PRODUCT PATTERN
FANTASY SET
PACKAGE FANTASY SET
PRODUCT PATTERN
NATURE SET
PACKAGE NATURE SET
PRODUCT
TRANSPORT SET
PACKAGE TRANSPORT SET
LOGO & FONTS
58a PANTONE 7325C
A visual identity was created for the product inspired in comic style. As a solution, team work used strong and primary colors with dots. Step-a-beat logo is designed with a standard mapping rules, “a” is the basic length unit for graphics drawing.
PANTONE 106C
24a
PANTONE 447C
The fonts and shapes should refer to comic graphics.
Comix Loud
ABCDEFGHIJKLN
OPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890
Frutiger
ABCDEFGHIJKLN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890
STORY BOARD
Can I be a mysterious magician?
Hummm, what is it?
Yes! And I will be a scary monster.
Hey, look my new toy!
It is Step-a-beat! We can play with sounds, and be whatever you want.
EXHIBITION For Step-a-beat exhibition, team work would like to show the final design material developed during innovation studio course: - Video; - Project booklet; - Product prototype; - Packaging prototype; - Design process book.
aqua
GROUP 8: AQUA AMANDA VARGAS CHIARA RIVA FEDERICA RANIERI GONG PING