The Musikbox 1188 is a connected loudspeaker.
In the age of streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, the consumer habits in music culture and industry are shifting; and new possibilities (an almost infinite music collection) create new challenges: the phenomenon known in psychology as ‘Choice Overload’ states that a vast amount of choices can be bad. The Musikbox 1188 explores these interrelations and is designed for a generation with permanent access to any music from everywhere, in place of a long-established music collection, put together in bits and pieces.
The project is part of Ludwig Rensch’s diploma thesis ‘Interacting with things’ and a creative approach to the subject of music consumption.
How it works: the Musikbox 1188 connects with your friends and you can listen to their music as they do, in realtime.
The minimalistic appearance of the device doesn’t reveal too much of what’s going to happen: a light point simply indicates whether one of the previously assigned friends is listening to music at the moment or not. The playful, almost toy-like, interaction however encourage the user to try out and explore. The little cylindric knob is magnetically attracted by the round holes, making it fun to play around. By turning the knob, the sound volume is increased or decreased. It feels natural and simple.
One channel is for your own music, the others are for four good friends.
