Interaction Design

IP Music Player

Responsive Surfaces

Synthesizer

Layer Box

Special Moments


	IP Music Player 2004, 2005 The IP Music Player is a new music media platform interface.


	IPMP 003: Places virtual files on the desktop for the play device to browse. Bringing the device in proximity to the file produces a file icon in the display area. The displayed file is linked to the original file location. Relationships involving or between individual musical pieces are displayed in a 2D mapping format (by, for example, indicating the location of origin of a selected composition on a world map). The 003 version links the individual’s musical memory map with the flat-map representation of the file.


	IPMP 006: Offers a variety of file selection modes to replace “Direct/Accurate,” “Automatic” “Shuffle/Random.” Users can make their selections by “throwing” a pointer – much like a dart – at the 2D file. This mode leaves the user in less than total operational control, making selection like a game of skill and chance. Hitting the target brings the rush of accomplishment, but missing has its consolation as well: we get to hear something we haven’t listened to and didn’t expect, rather than a favorite we may be growing tired of. Skilled “shooters” can switch the system to Direct/Accurate mode with their dart prowess.

Whereas music players have traditionally been built around handling a single medium provided externally, today’s players have to select desired files from expansive digital libraries. The GUI and mouse point-and-click approach with hierarchical file structures typically seen in PCs is generally an effective UI for this type of environment. However, the IP Music Player differs from these generic UIs in that it is specialized for the music player platform, and therefore a new proposition for device form and configuration.

The IP Music Player project process is driven by the following four guidelines:

1. Distill the demand that actually arises in daily life: dismantle its structure to its constituent parts and rebuild it from the ground up.
2. Show the essential state of the device in its physical form.
3. Present new value beyond high performance, high sophistication and function, and a high degree of user friendliness.
4. Create a new style for audio devices.

We have developed two IP Music Player prototype versions: IPMP 003/006

Designers and their affiliations

Creative Center
Eijiro Mori / Producer
Takuo Ikeda / Senior Designer