Chime
Interaction Design
Sound Design
Experience Design
Project Information: 3 weeks, 2025
Exploring sound, interaction and form.
In collaboration with advanced product design students.
Role: Interaction design, Sound design, Branding
Team: Sharvin Sawant, Sander Randoja
Henning Birgersson, Samuel Nagel
Connecting to Nature through Data Sonification
Chime is a conceptual sound experience consisting of a set of near-future artifacts that enable people to connect with nature through data sonification. By touching soil, water, plants, and fungi with sensor-equipped fingers, environmental data is sensed and translated into sound through a recording device. The resulting sound can be recorded onto a disc, preserving a tangible memory of the interaction with nature.
Due to the ambiguity of the sonified data, it is not explicitly indicated whether the data is “good” or “bad.” Instead, you must actively listen, compare sounds, and draw your own conclusions. Fostering a deeper, more intuitive understanding of your environment.
1. Wander
Wander into nature with your device
2. Sense
Listen to the data of your surroundings
3. Collect
Preserve the moments that resonate with you on the memory disc.
4. Reminisce
Revisit your past journeys through their captured soundscapes
The Collector
The Collector is a handheld recording device that converts extracted data into live sound. Holding the record button stores the sensed sound onto the disc in real time. A minimal light interface indicates the type of data being recorded and the remaining storage capacity.
The Sensors
Sensors worn on your fingers captures data such as pH, bioelectrical signals, and moisture levels from the elements of nature you grace with your hand. This data is transmitted to the Collector in real time.
The Composer
Later at home, users can relive their journey through the Composer, a playback device that weaves the collected sounds into an ambient soundscape.
Memory
Drawing from the tangible experience of the Polaroid camera, physical disc are used to store the extracted data. Its limited storage capacity encourages you to choose your sounds carefully, resulting in a thoughtful collection that reflects your personal journey through nature.
Chime Interface
Data-to-Sound Translation
Due to the ambiguity of the sonified data, it is not explicitly indicated whether the data is “good” or “bad.” Instead, you must actively listen, compare sounds, and draw your own conclusions, fostering a deeper, more intuitive understanding of your environment. A thriving plant produces more sound than a wilting one due to stronger bioelectrical signals.
Learnings
Chime was a pivotal experience that deepened my expertise in sound and experience design. Our team operated with strong synergy, driven by a shared commitment to pushing creative boundaries.
A key takeaway was expanding my product design perspective. Transitioning from a graphic design background, I gained hands-on experience with 3D printing, finishing techniques like sanding and painting, and effectively using product design terminology, such as CMF (Color, Material, Finish), to articulate visual concepts.
By blending storytelling with tangible product design, this experience gave me a new creative lens. I’m looking forward to refining and applying this approach in future work.
Experience Prototyping
Working on the mobile view,
please have a look on desktop