Client: Thalmic Labs 

Case Study: Audio UX Concepting for the ‘Focals’ Smart Glasses

In 2016 I was approached by Thalmic Labs to support their work on the ground-breaking ‘Focals’ smart glasses. Thalmic Labs, which would later rebrand as North to coincide with the launch of the Focals, are based in Kitchener, Canada. The Focals is a product with the potential to redefine the wearables category – creating stylishly smart glasses designed to blend into our everyday lives. They encourage us to limit time spent staring down at a computer screen, whilst perhaps offering a glimpse into the future.

As the sound designer, I collaborated with the UX Design team at a preliminary stage of product design thinking. They needed to understand the value of sound design as part of their interface. So my exploratory work involved creating unique UI sound sets to a pre-determined list of functions. Sounds that would compliment the subtle interactions experienced within the lens interface. The UI sounds would range from a start-up, to a notification alert, to a subtle keypress, and they needed to reflect the character of the smart glasses UI - being human and approachable as opposed to futuristic or techy ‘cyborg-like’. A small selection of these sounds can be heard below.

As well as the sound design done at my studio in London, I spent a total of 2 weeks working alongside the UX team on-site in Kitchener, Canada. This would be divided into 2 visits. My first visit was primarily to gain a deeper understanding of the product, brand, and sound design requirements. During my second visit a few months later, I worked as part of the UX team to help oversee user testing, and also participate in follow-up workshops.  

My work with Thalmic Labs (now called North) during the early development phase, was to be used as the blueprint for all the work we see today in the North Focals, including the 2.0 update.