TinkerPhones
Headphones allow us to create personalized soundscapes anywhere,
but they are designed as black boxes that shut us out. TinkerPhones make
the invisible visible to invite modifications and repair.
but they are designed as black boxes that shut us out. TinkerPhones make
the invisible visible to invite modifications and repair.
Tinker is an open concept. Traditionally hidden workings are accessible and adaptable.
String for headband tensioning, earcup adjustment (left) and holding cushion fabric (right). Strung by you for accessible adjustability and replaceability.
Motivations
Headphones are expressive personal devices, yet remain static. You interact with them in the form you buy them, unable to make fixes along the way. They plan for their obsolescnece.
What if getting into the workings of a headphone wasn’t destructive?
What if electronics elicited a curiosity about how they work and the access to tinker with it?
Around 62 million tonnes of e-waste is produced annually. Only 22% is formally collected and recycled.1
If we form closer relationships with our electronics, and through ritualistic practices, maintain and upgrade them as needed, they can last longer.
What makes us throw away devices?
1. Accessibility
Adhesives and thread-locked screws make components difficult to access.
Tinker has standard mechanical fasteners, and the ability to separate all dissimilar materials.
2. Replaceability
In the chase for an upgrade, worn parts like earpads go unreplaced, while others like headbands remain unfixable.
Tinker is engaging and visually celebrates maintenance to re-spark excitement.
3. Complexity
Unintuitive and invisible component assembly make repair scary and risky.
Tinker is visible and intuitive to foster confidence and encourage being hands-on.
Development
Shared mounting points between interchangable parts.
Mechanisms that involve you to form closer connections to the object.
Refinement
Discovering an elastic cord approach for the headband clamping force.
The elastic can also adjust earcup height.
Product
Easy seperation of all dissimilar materials.
Built up layer-by-layer.
Using standardized hardware that is easily accessible.
An involved assembly process so when parts wear, you are confident in how to maintain them.
Designed to evolve with needs.
Designed for expression.