On the occasion of the “Sound & Vision” exhibition, ECAL and the design research centre EPFL+ECAL Lab awaken your senses through a range of immersive experiences, from surprising ringing bells to audiovisual music recordings. ECAL showcases “Ring my Bell”, an offbeat collection of interactive doorbells, while the EPFL+ECAL Lab unleashes the potential of Virtual Reality with “Hands on Vision”.

Ring my Bell

www.ecal-ringmybell.ch

HD Images 

Brochure with explanations

Video on vimeo

DONG! TRRRRRR! Or maybe even GLING! Or BLING!, MHHHH! And sometimes even BRAOUM! ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne presents an offbeat collection of interactive doorbells developed by first-year Bachelor Industrial Design students, under the joint guidance of Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard, Head of Bachelor Industrial Design, and Mathieu Rivier, a Bachelor Media & Interaction Design graduate. This project is part of the “Sound & Vision” exhibition, shown for the first time, in collaboration with EPFL+ECAL Lab, at the 2019 Milan International Furniture Fair.

Sound and object design are two notions that industrial designers rarely have the opportunity to combine. Nevertheless, most everyday objects potentially produce sounds. Just pull up a chair, open or close a drawer or even flip a switch and you will create sound. What do all these actions have in common? Movement, friction and interaction which draw on the basic laws of physics to create tones. With this in mind, the students have offered a fresh and original take on an everyday object, one that is unremarkable yet never silent—the doorbell.

They have designed a range of mechanical and electrical doorbells that offer a unique, sometimes even thunderous, sound experience. Well-known chimes step aside and are replaced by a curious metallophone triggered by a punch card reminiscent of traditional mechanical music boxes. The former door knocker is now amplified by a vibrant dong! The familiar buzzer has been replaced by an energetic drum roll. The everyday doorbell has been replaced by a curious device that makes a sound like thunder. At last, where you might expect a ding-dong, there is now a stertorous mooing mhhhh! These are just some of the contraptions displayed.