Wandertroper is a mobile and wearable iOS app whose aim is to re-enhanced users' attention, subjective re-workings and consequent re-fascination towards the surroundings, rather than on the device. Smartphone's usage in urban settings often ranges from multitasking overconsumption and life-time management moving away attention from the context of the experience.
Conversely, Wandertroper aims to re-enhanced users' attention, subjective re-workings and consequent refascination towards the surroundings.The user centered design approach considered accounts from soundscape composition, embodied interaction and Psychogeographical practices, in order to focus on the engagement with real world towards renewed perceptual practices.
The emphasis is placed on the contextual aspects of the mediated experience. This is achieved by mapping environmental and behavioural data (directional microphone and accelerometers) to sound. Communication with the smartphone's hardware components (microphone and accelerometer) and tools for basic interface design were provided by the MobMuPlat platform which ultimately allowed for an user centred design methodology based on fast cycles of prototyping and evaluation.
The aesthetic, technical and methodological challenges of designing for subjective meaningful experience have been faced with an iterative design process informed by users’ everyday experiences with different applications.The result is a final prototype whose sound outcome is based on the spectromorphology of the lived soundscape. In this way, attention to surroundings and behaviours result enhanced in a subjectively meaningful way, allowing for the emergence of atmospheres, mental reworking and aesthetic experience outside a mere utilitarian realm.
