As a part-time radio host and DJ, London-based product designer
Dimitri Hadjichristou
really loves music. But he often found himself wondering if there were
others ways to experience it beyond the standard listening experience.
In his search for a more fully immersive experience, he began speaking
to people with hearing impairments in order to find out how they used
touch and other senses to understand music. Now, he’s designed a device
called Vi which helps hearing impaired children to experience sound in a
playful way.
During his research, the designer learned about Donaldson’s School
for the Deaf, where one day he sat in on a music lesson for kids and
watched students use resonance boards. The kids would lie down on these
boards as music played so they could “feel sound through vibrations.” By
hooking the board up to a keyboard, the school let the kids control the
sound coming through.
Watching this interaction inspired the design for Vi. Hadjichristou explains more about the experience:
I noticed then that there was a far more enthusiastic
response solely because the child had control, they were feeling what
they were playing, giving them a greater understanding for what they
felt opposed to just feeling vibrations. However, the board was
enormous, over-complicated, and didn’t embody a sense of playfulness
that children need so my aim was to redesign it into a smaller,
intuitive, childish product.
Using a speaker and a set of
Korg littleBits—pieces
that users can put together to create what the website describes as an
“analog synthesizer”—the object allows kids to create their own sound
patterns. You simply set up the cone-like object, arrange the pieces and
twist the knobs. This causes ball-bearings to vibrate and move with the
sound, giving users the chance to both visualize and feel the sounds.
When Hadjichristou brought Vi to Donaldson’s, “kids played with it
for hours.” The device has now been exhibited at the Edinburgh College
of Art Degree Show and the New Designers Part 2 exhibition in London.
Hadjichristou noticed that kids with autism also seemed to react
positively to the device. This proves that the it “works effectively
among a whole range of children” and could lead to other design
possibilities. All it takes is a synthesizer and some creativity.
Dimitri Hadjichristou
Instead
of forcing constant hot swaps of low-battery devices into the single
USB port your computer carries, InfiniteUSB promises the connection of
all cables, meaning all of your devices can finally be charged
simultaneously! As a color-coded open chain of USB ports that’s
compatible with iOS and Android (among other USB supported devices),
charging your devices has never been as easy or time efficient as with
the addition of the InfiniteUSB.
Tap to Expand
Instead of forcing constant hot swaps of low-battery devices into the single USB port your computer carries,
InfiniteUSB
promises the connection of all cables, meaning all of your devices can
finally be charged simultaneously! As a color-coded open chain of USB
ports that’s compatible with iOS and Android (among other USB supported
devices), charging your devices has never been as easy or time efficient
as with the addition of the InfiniteUSB.
Equipped with a built-in magnetic design to remove wild wires and
tangled cables, InfiniteUSB is available in 20cm and 120cm lengths as
blue, yellow, orange, red or grey cables.
Contrary to what the name suggests, the USB bus is limited to 127
devices per controller (including the root hub), though the team
recommends no more than six plugged-in devices at a time for optimal
user experience (with regard to power dispersion). That said, data
transfer is supported throughout any and all linked InfiniteUSBs, be it
lightning, micro or female.
Having just finished its Kickstarter phase, boasting 3,320 backers
pledging a grand total of $247,214 USD, the company is now taking
pre-orders.
With slim and regular models, the company’s manufacturer Vojotech
Inc. has ensured that all models will be true to size as according to
the pictures on Kickstarter. The team is additionally working on a
working USB-C prototype, expected to debut some time in April.
InfiniteUSB
