Dynamicland (website) Oakland, CA September 2017

Team Toby Schachman, Paula Te, Josh Horowitz, Luke Ianinni, Bret Victor

Beats of the World in action: making rhythms with blocks (video)

Beats of the World in action: making rhythms with blocks (video)

Beats of The World is a dynamic interactive textbook that lets people play and learn rhythms from around the world. We created this project to explore how to create a unique learning experience that combines the computational power of the digital world with the collaborative shared experience of the physical world.

Anecdotally, the most polished "product" at Dynamicland

Collaborative play and learning

Toby Schachman set forth the idea and its specifications. I led the design and implementation of the project.

Components

• The programming "rulebook": A page of code describes how to take tokens on a grid and convert them into sounds.
• The map highlights the location of the origin of the music.
• Each sheet music/rhythm board has the samples and origin location encoded in the page.
• The metronome draws from the rulebook and animates at the correct tempo; it is also a slider to change the speed.

Crafting a cohesive learning experience about music

Each aspect of Beats of the World was intentionally crafted, from researching various rhythms from around the world, sketching beat patterns, to designing content that flowed into a learning experience.

From research to designed rhythm board. Tools: Dynamicland OS, Illustrator, Keynote

Fabricating an aesthetically compelling artifact

The tangible experience of the project was also designed with intentionality, to explore how the aesthetics would change a person's experience of it. Even though the technology at Dynamicland was in its infancy, I wanted to explore how a more visually-designed project might turn an overwhelming sea of weird ideas into a compelling, accessible experience.

Because the technology requires visual marks to be recognized, this project allowed us to explore how to design details within the constraints of the technology, while still creating a unified visual aesthetic. Details such as the corner embellishments became a prominent pattern in the design of the box and the boards.

The construction of the box itself was also a fun exploratory challenge, in that the physical affordances of the box can guide a person's learning experience. The box was designed to also be a binder, like a book with removable pages, so that the boards could be played in order or removed to be played simultaneously.

The box (on the right) is a little worse for the wear after 2 years of play...