When communicating face-to-face, language is the tool we use to think logically as well as to communicate verbally and nonverbally. In verbal communication, language in terms of jargon and even use of pauses may distort our perception of an intended or desired message. On the other hand, we are conveying emotions nonverbally by facial expression, voice intonation, and body language. Our transmitted message in face-to-face communication may be misleading as a result of communication barriers such the tendency to preserve social acceptance when others are listening. Our purpose here is to maintain the level of logic conveyed in verbal communication and introduce a new communicate channel, one that improves on the ability to form an intended message unaffected by any social influences. 

 

 In situations where we need to convey an important message for a non-routine or complex situation, sufficient amount of delay to feedback without social presence will improve on our ability to yield an intended message.

Our inspired solution is here. We have created a communication channel with the capacity to record and playback voice recordings unlimited amount of times. Since it is with spoken or voice communication, we are maintaining the benefits of verbal communication such as the intended logic and purpose. However with voice recording capabilities, users can choose when and where to play and record message in pursuit to remove social pressures and of course, awkward delays that may be shown via our facial expressions to encode and decode feedback. We call it “Trio”.

What really makes this voice recorder unique and standout is the user experience we are trying to create. It is different from all the other voice recorder we have seen so far, by using a simple hand gesture, especially flip, to control several different function; and by having visual indications to note records and plays.

 

In terms of physical specs, users are motivated to use our module because it is lightweight and easy to hold with two hands. Recording and playing a message is an also simple task of removing apart of Trio to record a message and replacing it back vertically flipped to play  User can place the module upward or downward on the base  to allow selection of the operating mode.

The first problem we have encountered is coding the Neopixel led stick. We never have any experience in coding the stick. The LED Ampli-Tie project was a great help for us, when we tried to understand how the led stick functions.

 

Connecting microphone amplifier to breadboard is also a  painstaking process. we already burnt down two microphone amplifier for this project.  

 

In our previous works we have never dealt with voice recording. This time we want to create a tangible object which is being able to capture sound, store it and play it over and over again. We  spent a lot of time on searching for something that could handle the audio processing for us. We tried to use the voice recorder breakout  ISD1932, it  can work  independently but  it  is really hard to control it using arduino.  And then we switched to ISD1820 instead, which is more arduino friendly. 

 

At first we had the idea of creating a object which is smaller enough that user can grab it using a single hand. But after we finished the wiring, we soon realized that it is impossible to hide so many stuff in a small object. Eventually, the prototype we created needs user use two hands to hold it.  We were surprised to find that  it is ergonomically fit into two hands, and holding it use two hands is a more natural way to operate it.