speck design

FlowMedia Music Kiosk

FlowMedia Music Kiosk View Slideshow
Close
FlowMedia Music Kiosk CNET FlowMedia music kiosk concept.
  • FlowMedia Music Kiosk CNET FlowMedia music kiosk concept.
  • FlowMedia Music Kiosk A rendering of the CNET FlashBack concept, a credit card-sized reloadable and disposable music player with headphones.
  • FlowMedia Music Kiosk CNET FlashBack concept, a reloadable and disposable music player with headphones.
  • FlowMedia Music Kiosk Interactive touch screen of the CNET FlowMedia concept which streams song titles where the user can select songs.

Background

As part of its 10-year anniversary celebration, CNET invited its community of technology enthusiasts to sound-off on the products they wanted to see brought to market within the next couple of years.  One of these was the concept of a vending machine that conveniently provided downloadable music on the go.  In 2005, Speck Design was selected from a group of international and U.S. design firms to design this music kiosk concept.

Challenge

In developing a design concept, we sought to tackle the following questions:

  • How do we provide a simple alternative to purchasing music from the traditional “brick-and-mortar stores” and online music services?
  • How do we make this product convenient and intuitive for the busy, on-the-go user?
  • How do we create a product that can be used by those who do not have an iPod or have a device with no battery left?
  • How do we create a product in a cost effective manner while maintaining product integrity?

Solution

Through brainstorming and CAD renderings, we generated a series of concepts for CNET, resulting in a sleek and elegant kiosk design, FlowMedia, with an accompanying high concept player called the FlashBack (a credit card-sized reloadable and disposable music player with headphones).  The concept developed by Speck Design included an interactive touch screen, which streamed song titles that simulated a waterfall effect that the user could select and purchase songs through a drag-and-drop motion.  The kiosk would primarily be located at malls and airports, involving an instant and seamless process for purchasing music as well as movies.  The design also included an iPod docking station and different device connections through which users could purchase music as well as charge the battery of their devices.  For those with no iPod or other music playing devices, FlashBack would allow users to purchase instantaneous music downloads that wouldn't require a computer or WiFi access.

Results

The resulting concept was a much simpler alternative to purchasing music from traditional store fronts or online music services.  The product was both convenient and intuitive, and users would be able to directly download music easily and quickly.  As a result of the detail design exercise, we came up with a cutting edge design for the music market.

PROJECT INFO

  • Client:

    CNET

  • Project:

    FlowMedia Music Kiosk

  • Industry:

    Consumer