(2024)
Spotify Environments
Speculative design project exploring the myriad of novel user experiences introduced by XR (extended reality) devices that have recently come to market, by blending Spotify with Apple VisionOS.
For my graduation project at SFU SIAT, inspired by the capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro, utilized design fiction to create a speculative world that pushed the boundaries of what XR could become, aiming to encourage others to do the same and delve deeper into the world of possibilities that this novel piece of technology has introduced, avoiding the common pitfall of porting over existing usage of technologies to new platforms without much thought or optimism.
ROLE
Speculative Designer
TIMELINE
2024 Jan - Apr
ORGANIZATION
Spotify x Apple Vision OS
TEAM
Individual
PLATFORM
IAT 499
TYPE
Graduation Project
RESPONSIBILITIES
Speculative Design
World Building
Design Fiction
Graphic Design
UI Design
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
INTRODUCING
INTRODUCING
INTRODUCING
Platform allowing artists to release and market immersive VR environments alongside their album releases.
Platform allowing artists to release and market immersive VR environments alongside their album releases.
Platform allowing artists to release and market immersive VR environments alongside their album releases.
Speculative Design
[ noun ]
Design approach that explores possible futures by challenging existing norms, policies, or technologies. Designers utilize "what if ? " scenarios in order to encourage reflection on the consequences of emerging trends.
Design Fiction
[ noun ]
Method within speculative design that creates fictional scenarios, prototypes, or artifacts to make future possibilities feel tangible. Leveraging storytelling through different diegetic mediums to immerse people in an imagined world.
Learning from the future, to design for the present.
Imagining an immersive music consumption experience.
Utilizing Design Fiction, I wanted to speculate what unique user experiences Spotify could create for its users with the introduction of Vision OS.
The optical nature of the Vision Pro coupled with the auditory nature of Spotify presents a unique candidate for opportunities to be enhanced through the capabilities of a spatial environment.
Apple Vision Pro, advertised as a spatial computer, digital media shown by the device is integrated into the user’s real world environment, with eye tracking to aim, motion gestures to perform actions, and a mix of voice inputs and virtual keyboard for input.
Spotify, the leading music streaming platform, boasting over more than 602 million users in more than 180 markets. More listeners than ever can now discover, manage, and enjoy over 100 million tracks, 5 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.
A Blast from the Past
In order to better understand the problem space and spark our ideation, I was encouraged by my mentor to first look back at the evolution of music consumption over the years with the hopes of understand how the role of technology has shaped the music industry.
1948
VINYL
Columbia Records introduced the long-play allowing for multiple songs on the same record. Vinyl remain the dominant recording format for most of the 20th century.
1958
MUSIC TAPES
Magnetic tape initially made little impact, but its portability spurred car adoption, making 8-track players standard in '60s cars and greatly enhanced road trips.
1981
SONY WALKMAN
With the arrival of the Sony Walkman, listeners could take music with them whenever and where-ever. The consumption of music slowly begins to become individualized.
1981
LAUNCH OF MTV
Around the same time in 1981, MTV launched, allowing record labels to market their music. Artists was able to offer a complete artistic package starting with music videos.
1999
COMPACT DISK
The rise of the Digital Era came the digital audio compact disk. CD sales boomed and profits peaked that year with 14.6 billion in sales in the US alone.
2000
MP3 Players
Introduction of the iPod and MP3 players, the industry saw a boost from digital downloads, however physical formate sales dwindled powered by piracy such as sites like Napster.
2008
SPOTIFY
Streaming surged with the arrival of Spotify, revolutionizing music listening by introducing a streaming model that provided users instant and legal access to a vast library of music.
2024
WHAT'S NEXT ?
Each step took music consumption to new heights and fundamentally changed how people consumed music. If history is any indication, it is only a matter of time before…
Can spatial environments be the next evolution in music consumption ?
Can streaming take music back to its hay-day after fundamentally changing the way we consume it ?
Takeaways
Artistic Packages
When MTV first launched, record labels were able to market their music through music videos, album covers, and overall branding, providing a complete music experience.
Increased Individualization
The rise of digital technologies and streaming services created a more individualized music consumption experience over the years and this trend is here to stay.
Environment Matters
The arrival of the walkman meant people were able to take their music wherever they go. Consuming music in different environments provided unique and nostalgic experiences.
Adoption Welcomed
Each step in music consumption advancement showed that users are willing to adopt platforms that leverage new technologies to enhance their music experience.
HOW MIGHT WE
Utilize design fiction to create a convincing speculative experience to compel Spotify to reflect on the affordances of current technology to begin conceptualizing the next evolution of music consumption for both consumers and artists.
Utilize design fiction to create a convincing speculative experience to compel Spotify to reflect on the affordances of current technology to begin conceptualizing the next evolution of music consumption for both consumers and artists.
Diegetic prototype of Spotify's user interface adopted for Apple Vision OS.
Diegetic prototype of Spotify's user interface adopted for Apple Vision OS.
Diegetic prototype of Spotify's user interface adopted for Apple Vision OS.
Reimagined for a 3D space by combining a multitude of spatial design principles with Vision OS’s iconic glassmorphic design system and direction to create an intuitive & immersive user experience.
Reimagined for a 3D space by combining a multitude of spatial design principles with Vision OS’s iconic glassmorphic design system and direction to create an intuitive & immersive user experience.
Immersing listeners in soundscapes designed by their favourite artists.
Immersing listeners in soundscapes designed by their favourite artists.
Immersing listeners in soundscapes designed by their favourite artists.
Providing fans a multisensory interactive experience to consume music, and artists an additional way to express their creative vision, deepen audience engagement, and expand their storytelling.
Providing fans a multisensory interactive experience to consume music, and artists an additional way to express their creative vision, deepen audience engagement, and expand their storytelling.
(2024)
Spotify Environments
Speculative design project exploring the myriad of novel user experiences introduced by XR (extended reality) devices that have recently come to market, by blending Spotify with Apple VisionOS.
For my graduation project at SFU SIAT, inspired by the capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro, utilized design fiction to create a speculative world that pushed the boundaries of what XR could become, aiming to encourage others to do the same and delve deeper into the world of possibilities that this novel piece of technology has introduced, avoiding the common pitfall of porting over existing usage of technologies to new platforms without much thought or optimism.
ROLE
Speculative Designer
TIMELINE
2024 Jan - Apr
ORGANIZATION
Spotify x Apple Vision OS
TEAM
Individual
PLATFORM
IAT 499
TYPE
Graduation Project
RESPONSIBILITIES
Speculative Design
World Building
Design Fiction
Graphic Design
UI Design
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
INTRODUCING
Platform allowing artists to release and market immersive VR environments alongside their album releases.
Speculative Design
[ noun ]
Design approach that explores possible futures by challenging existing norms, policies, or technologies. Designers utilize "what if ? " scenarios in order to encourage reflection on the consequences of emerging trends.
Design Fiction
[ noun ]
Method within speculative design that creates fictional scenarios, prototypes, or artifacts to make future possibilities feel tangible. Leveraging storytelling through different diegetic mediums to immerse people in an imagined world.
Learning from the future, to design for the present.
Imagining an immersive music consumption experience.
Utilizing Design Fiction, I wanted to speculate what unique user experiences Spotify could create for its users with the introduction of Vision OS.
The optical nature of the Vision Pro coupled with the auditory nature of Spotify presents a unique candidate for opportunities to be enhanced through the capabilities of a spatial environment.
Apple Vision Pro, advertised as a spatial computer, digital media shown by the device is integrated into the user’s real world environment, with eye tracking to aim, motion gestures to perform actions, and a mix of voice inputs and virtual keyboard for input.
Spotify, the leading music streaming platform, boasting over more than 602 million users in more than 180 markets. More listeners than ever can now discover, manage, and enjoy over 100 million tracks, 5 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.
A Blast from the Past
In order to better understand the problem space and spark our ideation, I was encouraged by my mentor to first look back at the evolution of music consumption over the years with the hopes of understand how the role of technology has shaped the music industry.
1948
VINYL
Columbia Records introduced the long-play allowing for multiple songs on the same record. Vinyl remain the dominant recording format for most of the 20th century.
1958
MUSIC TAPES
Magnetic tape initially made little impact, but its portability spurred car adoption, making 8-track players standard in '60s cars and greatly enhanced road trips.
1981
SONY WALKMAN
With the arrival of the Sony Walkman, listeners could take music with them whenever and where-ever. The consumption of music slowly begins to become individualized.
1981
LAUNCH OF MTV
Around the same time in 1981, MTV launched, allowing record labels to market their music. Artists was able to offer a complete artistic package starting with music videos.
1999
COMPACT DISK
The rise of the Digital Era came the digital audio compact disk. CD sales boomed and profits peaked that year with 14.6 billion in sales in the US alone.
2000
MP3 Players
Introduction of the iPod and MP3 players, the industry saw a boost from digital downloads, however physical formate sales dwindled powered by piracy such as sites like Napster.
2008
SPOTIFY
Streaming surged with the arrival of Spotify, revolutionizing music listening by introducing a streaming model that provided users instant and legal access to a vast library of music.
2024
WHAT'S NEXT ?
Each step took music consumption to new heights and fundamentally changed how people consumed music. If history is any indication, it is only a matter of time before…
Can spatial environments be the next evolution in music consumption ?
Can streaming take music back to its hay-day after fundamentally changing the way we consume it ?
Takeaways
Artistic Packages
When MTV first launched, record labels were able to market their music through music videos, album covers, and overall branding, providing a complete music experience.
Increased Individualization
The rise of digital technologies and streaming services created a more individualized music consumption experience over the years and this trend is here to stay.
Environment Matters
The arrival of the walkman meant people were able to take their music wherever they go. Consuming music in different environments provided unique and nostalgic experiences.
Adoption Welcomed
Each step in music consumption advancement showed that users are willing to adopt platforms that leverage new technologies to enhance their music experience.
HOW MIGHT WE
Utilize design fiction to create a convincing speculative experience to compel Spotify to reflect on the affordances of current technology to begin conceptualizing the next evolution of music consumption for both consumers and artists.
Diegetic prototype of Spotify's user interface adopted for Apple Vision OS.
Reimagined for a 3D space by combining a multitude of spatial design principles with Vision OS’s iconic glassmorphic design system and direction to create an intuitive & immersive user experience.
Immersing listeners in soundscapes designed by their favourite artists.
Providing fans a multisensory interactive experience to consume music, and artists an additional way to express their creative vision, deepen audience engagement, and expand their storytelling.
(2024)
Spotify Environments
Speculative design project exploring the myriad of novel user experiences introduced by XR (extended reality) devices that have recently come to market, by blending Spotify with Apple VisionOS.
For my graduation project at SFU SIAT, inspired by the capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro, utilized design fiction to create a speculative world that pushed the boundaries of what XR could become, aiming to encourage others to do the same and delve deeper into the world of possibilities that this novel piece of technology has introduced, avoiding the common pitfall of porting over existing usage of technologies to new platforms without much thought or optimism.
ROLE
Speculative Designer
TIMELINE
2024 Jan - Apr
ORGANIZATION
Spotify x Apple Vision OS
TEAM
Individual
PLATFORM
IAT 499
TYPE
Graduation Project
RESPONSIBILITIES
Speculative Design
World Building
Design Fiction
Graphic Design
UI Design
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premiere Pro
INTRODUCING
Platform allowing artists to release and market immersive VR environments alongside their album releases.
Speculative Design
[ noun ]
Design approach that explores possible futures by challenging existing norms, policies, or technologies. Designers utilize "what if ? " scenarios in order to encourage reflection on the consequences of emerging trends.
Design Fiction
[ noun ]
Method within speculative design that creates fictional scenarios, prototypes, or artifacts to make future possibilities feel tangible. Leveraging storytelling through different diegetic mediums to immerse people in an imagined world.
Learning from the future, to design for the present.
Imagining an immersive music consumption experience.
Utilizing Design Fiction, I wanted to speculate what unique user experiences Spotify could create for its users with the introduction of Vision OS.
The optical nature of the Vision Pro coupled with the auditory nature of Spotify presents a unique candidate for opportunities to be enhanced through the capabilities of a spatial environment.
Apple Vision Pro, advertised as a spatial computer, digital media shown by the device is integrated into the user’s real world environment, with eye tracking to aim, motion gestures to perform actions, and a mix of voice inputs and virtual keyboard for input.
Spotify, the leading music streaming platform, boasting over more than 602 million users in more than 180 markets. More listeners than ever can now discover, manage, and enjoy over 100 million tracks, 5 million podcasts titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.
A Blast from the Past
In order to better understand the problem space and spark our ideation, I was encouraged by my mentor to first look back at the evolution of music consumption over the years with the hopes of understand how the role of technology has shaped the music industry.
1948
VINYL
Columbia Records introduced the long-play allowing for multiple songs on the same record. Vinyl remain the dominant recording format for most of the 20th century.
1958
MUSIC TAPES
Magnetic tape initially made little impact, but its portability spurred car adoption, making 8-track players standard in '60s cars and greatly enhanced road trips.
1981
SONY WALKMAN
With the arrival of the Sony Walkman, listeners could take music with them whenever and where-ever. The consumption of music slowly begins to become individualized.
1981
LAUNCH OF MTV
Around the same time in 1981, MTV launched, allowing record labels to market their music. Artists was able to offer a complete artistic package starting with music videos.
1999
COMPACT DISK
The rise of the Digital Era came the digital audio compact disk. CD sales boomed and profits peaked that year with 14.6 billion in sales in the US alone.
2000
MP3 Players
Introduction of the iPod and MP3 players, the industry saw a boost from digital downloads, however physical formate sales dwindled powered by piracy such as sites like Napster.
2008
SPOTIFY
Streaming surged with the arrival of Spotify, revolutionizing music listening by introducing a streaming model that provided users instant and legal access to a vast library of music.
2024
WHAT'S NEXT ?
Each step took music consumption to new heights and fundamentally changed how people consumed music. If history is any indication, it is only a matter of time before…
Can spatial environments be the next evolution in music consumption ?
Can streaming take music back to its hay-day after fundamentally changing the way we consume it ?
Takeaways
Artistic Packages
When MTV first launched, record labels were able to market their music through music videos, album covers, and overall branding, providing a complete music experience.
Increased Individualization
The rise of digital technologies and streaming services created a more individualized music consumption experience over the years and this trend is here to stay.
Environment Matters
The arrival of the walkman meant people were able to take their music wherever they go. Consuming music in different environments provided unique and nostalgic experiences.
Adoption Welcomed
Each step in music consumption advancement showed that users are willing to adopt platforms that leverage new technologies to enhance their music experience.
HOW MIGHT WE
Utilize design fiction to create a convincing speculative experience to compel Spotify to reflect on the affordances of current technology to begin conceptualizing the next evolution of music consumption for both consumers and artists.
Diegetic prototype of Spotify's user interface adopted for Apple Vision OS.
Reimagined for a 3D space by combining a multitude of spatial design principles with Vision OS’s iconic glassmorphic design system and direction to create an intuitive & immersive user experience.
Immersing listeners in soundscapes designed by their favourite artists.
Providing fans a multisensory interactive experience to consume music, and artists an additional way to express their creative vision, deepen audience engagement, and expand their storytelling.
