@ 2023 by Yukio You

yukioa2z@gmail.com

YUKIO YOU

WORK

CREATIVITY

ABOUT

RESUME

Kata

Reframe the experience of 30-combs paper-tape music box

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Prototype

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Use sander to sculpture a sharp curve on iron nails.
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Use laser engraving machine to cut the support frames.
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Assemble the keys with plastic pvc-pipes.
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Assemble the punching structure.
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Playing “Castle in the city”.
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Punching according to the Led instruction.
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Import the MIDI music file of the“Castle in the city”written by Hisaishi Joe.
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Connect sensors with the Printed Circuit Board(PCB).
Prototype

Reflection

This project focuses on product and experience innovation. I truly appreciate 薯仔桑(@bilibili / @youtube), who shared precious insights and codesigned Kata with me. I experienced an intense period of prototyping, which came with a great amount of design and engineering challenges. Overcoming these issues and continuous iteration build up Kata from sketch to appealing product.

Kata is the graduation project of my bachelor degree. A big issue that came out during research phase is the copyright issue that stops people turning music they like into MIDI/Paper-tape edition. As web3 technology continuous growing, it is potential to build an accessible MIDI music community which serve as an "API" for Kata. For next phase, I plan to create the Kata app end to extend the experience further.

This project focuses on product and experience innovation. I truly appreciate 薯仔桑(@bilibili / @youtube), who shared precious insights and codesigned Kata with me. I experienced an intense period of prototyping, which came with a great amount of design and engineering challenges. Overcoming these issues and continuous iteration build up Kata from sketch to appealing product.

Kata is the graduation project of my bachelor degree. A big issue that came out during research phase is the copyright issue that stops people turning music they like into MIDI/Paper-tape edition. As web3 technology continuous growing, it is potential to build an accessible MIDI music community which serve as an "API" for Kata. For next phase, I plan to create the Kata app end to extend the experience further.

Reflection &

Next steps

Final effect

Current User Journey
Copy music score
Copy midi music score to the paper tape correctly. (One song contains several hundreds of notes)
1.5 hour
Punch holes
Punch the notes in the marked position on the tape one by one using hole puncher.
4 hour
Play music

Insert well-made paper tape in the music box and play the music manually.

3.5 minute
Copy music score
Copy midi music score to the paper tape correctly. (One song contains several hundreds of notes)
1.5 hour
Punch holes
Punch the notes in the marked position on the tape one by one using hole puncher.
4 hour
Play music

Insert well-made paper tape in the music box and play the music manually.

3.5 minute
Time-consuming
Laborious
Require music foundation
Key issues

Require music foundation

Require music foundation

It requires music foundation transforming music into paper-tape ready score, which blocks the green hands.

Time-consuming

Time-consuming

A long producing duration compared to a short music playing time stops people from continuously investigating.

Laborious

Laborious

Copy and punch the music notes one by one using single hole puncher is repetitive and tedious.

Key issues

Key issues

How might we combine three steps above to create an integrated product to provide user-friendly music creating and playing experience?
How might we combine three steps above to create an integrated product to provide user-friendly music creating and playing experience?
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Enjoy the music,
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Enjoy the music,
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Press keys to punch holes following the LED instructions.
Tear the tape when punching is over.
Insert the finished paper tape into the music box from the front.

Final product User Journey

Upload the MIDI music file.
Press the “Play” button.
Press the “Play” button.
Research

Kata is a digital music toy designed from paper-tape music box. It combines three steps of playing paper-tape music box into one product that provides integrated playing experience.

Role

Design: Concept sketches, 3D Modeling and Rendering, User Journey, Physical Prototyping

Research: Desktop research, Observation, Semi-structured interview

Duration

20 weeks

Feb, 2021

Jun, 2021

Tools

Rhino

Keyshot

Laser Cutter

Adobe Illustrator

Team

Yukio You

Zhibin Li

Ball bearing
Axle
Stepper motor
Pressure sensor
Music box score
Rolled
Folded
Adjustable
Tearable
Easy to store
Design

Typewriter keys are arranged in a very efficient way. Around 50 keys are separated through the way of front and back interspersed with the hammer corresponding to one by one. The clever space layout on the operation interface displays complex information to the user in a simple and elegant way. And its line breaking function is also very practical for paper tape drilling.

If the keys of a typewriter were replaced with the piano keys, and the hammers were replaced with the punching structure of a hole puncher, then the music box paper tape could be punched by pressing the keys simply. Then replace the mechanical structure of the line breaking function with a stepper motor, and associate it with the key action, then an efficient and convenient music box punching system is formed.

Utilize midi file to generate music data

MIDI file is a digitalization of music and it’s composed by two parts: Header Chunk(MThd)+ many Track Chunk(MTrk). It includes all the detailed information of one song, such as the note, the note’s duration, etc. which could be recognized and extracted easily.

Play music

In order to keep its high quality acoustic fidelity and intonation, traditional music combs are mostly handmade, which is high-cost. Led+Light sensor is a cheaper but more efficient way for identifying the position of note holes.

Play music

In order to keep its high quality acoustic fidelity and intonation, traditional music combs are mostly handmade, which is high-cost. Led+Light sensor is a cheaper but more efficient way for identifying the position of note holes.

Engineering system design

Copy music score

4D54 6864 0000 0006 0001 0003 01E0 4D54 726B 0000 001A 00FF 0303 3132 3300 FF51 0308 7A23 ...... ......

00FF 2F00

4D54 726B 0000 0067 00FF 0313 5B47 4D20 3035 345D 2056 6F69 6365 204F 6F68 738F 0090 3C64 8C18 803C 40 ...

...... 00FF 2F00

Track Chunk(MTrk): Including the name of the song, the playing speed
Track Chunk(MTrk): Including the note, the strength, the note’s duration
Header Chunk(MThd): Including the format, the number of tracks, the time unit

Punch holes

4D54 6864 0000 0006 0001 0003 01E0 4D54 726B 0000 001A 00FF 0303 3132 3300 FF51 0308 7A23 ...... ......

00FF 2F00

4D54 726B 0000 0067 00FF 0313 5B47 4D20 3035 345D 2056 6F69 6365 204F 6F68 738F 0090 3C64 8C18 803C 40 ...

...... 00FF 2F00

Track Chunk(MTrk): Including the name of the song, the playing speed
Track Chunk(MTrk): Including the note, the strength, the note’s duration
Header Chunk(MThd): Including the format, the number of tracks, the time unit
Flute
Kong Hou
Xun
Chimes
Default
Pottery
Lute
Stepper motor
Speaker
Led
Light sensor
Pressure sensor

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1

Stepper motor
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Keyboard
Puncher
Paper feeding space
B
A
C
Previous
Current
Next
Timbre
Selection
Selection
Selection
Selection
Play
Product Interface & Physical Buttons

During the test, it was found that only relying on the light can not display the information of the score, and the screen is a good information carrier, so it was decided to add a small screen above the keyboard to improve feasibility and to be more user friendly.

Click “Play” to start punching
Select Music
Hisaishi Joe
272 Notes
Castle in the Sky
Tonci Huljic
625 Notes
Croatian Rhapsody
Susan Mallery
425 Notes
Dream Wedding
Johann Strauss
373 Notes
The Blue Danube
Hisaishi Joe
420 Notes
kikujiro No Natsu
Timbre selection
Choose the timbres of different instruments to improve playability.
Punching
Display the notes in order, after A is pressed, B will move up one line.
Music switching
Switch and choose the song.
Iteration
After testing, it is found that although there are LED and screen instructions when user punching the keys, there is still a possibility that the keys are pressed incorrectly. The corrective steps are very troublesome; and because of the large number of keys, the volume would be very large. Therefore, it was refined during the iteration. The keyboard and the punched structure were separated, and they were set to have 1 action delay; and the error lock function was added. That is, the button action is one step faster than the punch action. When the system finds an error in the button action, it can provide timely feedback through visual and auditory senses, and lock the button until the user corrects the error at the same time.
Iteration

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Stepper motor 1 is used to drive the punching structure.

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Stepper motor 2 is used to drive the paper tape.
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The keyboard will display the name of each note, and guide the user to press the key.

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Stepper motor 1 is used to drive the punching structure.

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Stepper motor 2 is used to drive the paper tape.
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The keyboard will display the name of each note, and guide the user to press the key.
Stepper motor
Speaker
Led
Light sensor
Pressure sensor

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1

Stepper motor
3
Keyboard
Puncher
Paper feeding space

RESEARCH

DESIGN

PROTOTYPE

ITERATION

REFLECTION