Case Study 02
Carecast
Sound of Smart Home — an ambient interaction study exploring how a house can care for the people inside it without asking for their attention.
Image placeholder — 21:9
Year
2025
Category
Interaction · Sound design
Role
Designer & sound designer
Keywords
ambient, care, non-visual UI, domestic
Scenario
[Placeholder] Multigenerational households where the smart home is a chorus of alerts. Attention is spent before care is delivered.
Concept
A sonic layer for the home — quiet cues that reassure, remind and connect without a screen.
Journal
- Note 01 — [Placeholder] Recorded ambient loops of morning routines across three homes.
- Note 02 — [Placeholder] Sketch: a kettle-warm chime for medication.
- Note 03 — [Placeholder] Ran a listening session — the softest cue was the most remembered.
Process & Methods
[Placeholder] Field observations, sonic sketching in Ableton, and Wizard-of-Oz sessions inside a mocked-up kitchen.
Outcome
[Placeholder] A palette of eight cues, a small speaker prototype, and a user guide framed as a listening score.
Reflection
[Placeholder] Sound is a soft interface. It works when it earns the room, not when it fills it.