Siara is an internet connected object. With the press of a button it broadcasts a high quality internet radio stream from the microphone allowing the user to tune into any environment of their choosing, whether it be a garden or a busy cafe.
Siara allows the user to take the sound of a place they love and broadcast it to their computer, iphone or Hi-Fi system anywhere in the world. It has been crafted in a form that allows a normal, non-technically inclined user to connect to a familiar auditory experience with one button press.
Siara was created out of a desire to find and appreciate silence, the source of peace and feelings of well-being in people and an increasingly rare commodity in the western world. We have become accustomed to the constant drone and crash of undesirable noise that affects our mental and physiological condition. Everyone can appreciate silence, yet each individual’s idea differs as to what silence is. For one person, silence is a sufficiently low noise floor that allows them to hear the birds chirping in the trees in their own back garden. For another, it’s the distant sound of a busy road without any crowd noise, or it could be a constant ringing sound (tinnitus).
Siara is designed to be used by anyone, with no technical experience. The software running in the server module is entirely hidden from the user and all they ever need to know is their streaming url which they can choose to keep private or share with the world.
With a 1950’s HiFi aesthetic made from real walnut and aluminium, SIARA is as comfortable sitting on your fathers living room table as it is resting next to your new iMac.
SIARA was completed in May 2011 as my BSc Product Design (Hons) project and has been featured in T3, Yanko Design, Audi Magazine, The Next Web, Trend Hunter, Zillamag and more.
How it works
Step one:
Place the mic in the garden, seashore, forest or any environment of interest
Step two:
Press the button on the mic. This automatically starts the sound streaming via the internet to your internet radio station. The red ‘Siara’ sign on the box lights up just like the ‘ON AIR’ sign in a radio studio, you are now streaming sound to your own internet radio station.
Step three:
Tune in from anywhere in the world using your iPhone, iTunes, Sonos system or internet radio compatible device. The station call sign is on the business card that came with the box if you are a bit technical this is the URL of the internet ‘station’.
Step four:
Is optional, share the station call sign with your friends using twitter, text messages or email.
