Dial for sound

London – Designer Gemma Roper is bridging the gap between the digital and physical with Spotify interface Radio Activity.

• Part of major project by Roper at the Royal College of Art, which also includes Safe+Sound and Stackabells
• ‘Increasing digital content and advances in touchscreen technology have gradually rendered tactile and kinetic interfaces obsolete' – Gemma Roper

A satisfyingly simple and tactile device, Radio Activity draws design inspiration from the humble metronome and introduces a novel way to discover new music. Using nothing more than a single dial and a sliding scale, listeners can select a beat per minute to reflect their mood. They can relax with something a little slower or get the heart racing by moving the dial up to its maximum.

‘Clicking is what we do with everything else,' Roper tells LS:N Global. 'Radio Activity is about reintroducing that ritualistic element to something which has become completely screen based.' 

The Big Picture: Creating Phygital experiences and products is a way to embrace technology without losing a sense of humanity in the process. Find out more with our Awakening Tech macrotrend.