Morii
Jinghan Hu
Travel is a sensory experience that allows people to explore the world, and their souvenirs should not only be proof of their trails but also carriers of memory. In other words, the value and meaning of souvenir-collecting is to help travelers reminisce about their unique experiences. Yet mass-produced keychains, t-shirts, and snow globes devalue the potential of the souvenir, failing to form deeper emotional bonds between travel and experience. Instead, we should be the creators and narrators of our own travel memories.
Photographs are the most common and straightforward recordings that establish a connection between travelers and their memories. Auditory experiences however, are stored for more extended periods than visual memories—when travelers go sightseeing, then, why don't they also go sighthearing? Could sounds be evolved into a tangible souvenir?
Collecting sound opens a new dimension to travel, which allows travelers to perceive and capture any precious moment in a new way. Morii is a system to capture that fleeting sound experience. By using Morii, travelers are able to create a variety of visual images made from sound recordings and the heartbeat responses they've collected. Further, travelers can choose to create unique music composed of their ambient sounds and physical response by converting frequency into notes and heartbeat into rhythms. Morii will also visualize audio, heart rate, and other ambient information to print souvenir portraits that can also act as a physical catalog for the digital souvenir collection.