ACUS
a radio renaissance

supervised by prof. peter laabs.
in collaboration with bettina phuong tran, marlene kaun, and severin göbel-groß.

cameras, newspapers, credit cards, flashlights, alarm clocks.

all of those objects are not necessary in our day-to-day lifes anymore, because they have all been replaced by one device: our smartphones.
nowadays, listening to podcasts, audio books, and the radio is easily accessible through apps on our mobile devices. that way, the nostalgic feeling we get when interacting with a simple, analog artifact is lost.
goal of this project is designing a device with an innovative interface that brings listening to podcasts and the radio to a new era. after a few weeks of sketching, brainstorming, research and prototyping, this is our concept:
a device combines listening to the radio and podcasts through an intuitive interface. adding interest to the object, its shape is reminiscent of a metronome. 

ACUS features a display that connects to a grooved needle, which can be tilted up to 30 degrees to the left and to the right. radio stations appear on the display as the needle is being tilted to the left. a substaion can be selected turning the control dial surrounding the display. tilting the needle to the right, podcast genres appear on the display. moving the display up or down the needle, a podcast title can be chosen. lastly, an episode is selected turning the control dial.
to adjust the volume use the ring surrounding the perforated speaker.

the interface shows radio stations, podcast genres, titles, and episodes as the display moves across the 60 degree fan shaped user interface. it is reminiscent of using a flashlight, as only the part of the interface that the display hovers over is visible for users (as shown in the video below). 

© 2023 Judith Zbanek