MUSIC BY VIBRATIONS
Timeline
Background + Context:
Music is often understood as something we hear, but it is equally something we feel through rhythm, vibration, and the body.
For Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, music is frequently experienced through movement, bass, and shared physical sensation rather than sound alone.
This project explores how vibration can function not as a substitute for sound, but as its own expressive medium for musical experience.
Research
To ground this project in lived experience, I began with both academic and primary research. I took an introductory course on Deaf culture and society, which examined the social, cultural, and sensory dimensions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing experiences. Building on this foundation, I wrote a research paper exploring how music is perceived within Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities beyond traditional auditory frameworks.
I then conducted approximately ten interviews with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, including children at the John Tracy Center and individuals with partial or gradual hearing loss, some of whom used hearing aids. Communication took place through writing, assisted hearing, or a combination of both.
Across interviews, a consistent theme emerged:
Music can persist beyond sound. It can be felt through vibration, rhythm, and movement.
Building on the original hand-drawn concept, the final renders refine the device into a more minimal, cohesive, and production-ready form. While the initial sketches explored interaction, grip, and internal components, the final design simplifies these ideas into a calm, unified object that feels intuitive in the hand.
Ideation
Translating Insights into Direction
How might we… design vibration as a language for rhythm, rather than a replacement for sound?
Solution
I. Initial Concept: Handheld Haptic Music Device
I.
Accessibility informs every decision
Designing for Deaf and Hard of Hearing users reshaped how I approached form, interaction, and feedback from the beginning. Rather than being a constraint, accessibility clarified priorities and led to clearer, more intentional design choices overall.
This initial hand-drawn concept explores a handheld device that translates music into tactile and visual feedback. The form prioritizes comfort, intuitive grip, and multisensory engagement, allowing users to experience rhythm and emotion through vibration, pressure, and light rather than sound alone.
II. Final Renders
Takeaways
II.
Restraint improves multisensory design
Working with haptics and light showed me that more input does not equal a better experience. Reducing visual and tactile intensity helped the device feel calmer, more intuitive, and emotionally legible in real-world use.
Core elements such as haptic feedback and light-based cues are retained but visually softened. The translucent orb becomes a subtle focal point, and internal components are fully integrated to maintain a clean exterior. This shift reflects a move from exploration to refinement, prioritizing comfort, clarity, and subtle multisensory expression.
III.
Refinement is where the design emerges
The transition from exploratory sketches to a restrained final form reinforced that strong design comes from editing, not adding. Comfort, clarity, and usability became most apparent through iteration and simplification.