Sphere of interest: Having a ball in empty spaces

London – Space Replay is a sonic and spatial installation by three design students from the Royal College of Art that aims to answer the question ‘how could sonic objects mediate between people, technology and places?’

The result is a floating black ball that emits strange ambient sounds as it moves through the space following the natural air currents. Designers Francesco Tacchini, Julinka Ebhardt and Will Yates-Johnson made Space Replay out of a latex balloon, a speaker and a hacked sensory device that was programmed to record sound and play it back on the move.

‘We aimed to draw people’s attention to their acoustic surroundings and the temporary way in which we pass through public spaces,’ said the designers.

The mystical, magical element of a floating sphere emitting sound is reminiscent of our Black Magic design direction, in which designers reference a geo-Gothic aesthetic in response to the digital overload of 21st-century living.