Musipen DAP concept breaks from convention

Designer Chris Williams has hatched a concept for an DAP called the Musipen which seriously breaks from the common, rectangular conventions of typical audio players (although, it doesn't go as far as we'd like). The most interesting component of the glowstick-esque design is its UI, which utilizes the tubular shape for navigation through menus, allowing for each end to act as a kind of scroll-wheel. While the design is just a concept right now, it does suggest some interesting possibilities for a market which is currently over-saturated with sameness. Check the gallery for all the futuristic goodness.

Gallery: Musipen DAP concept breaks from convention

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[Rex @ Jul 11th 2007 2:50AM]

Kinda like the Sony S2 Sports Mp3 player... but with a really sexy looking UI that I would definitely want to buy!

[01 @ Jul 11th 2007 11:58AM]

I was going to say, doesn't Sony have a player very similar to this concept? Anyway, it looks pretty sweet...

[BigD @ Jul 11th 2007 2:56AM]

Looks like something out of art.lebedev's expensive to produce, vapor factory.

I like it.

[Robaroo @ Jul 11th 2007 3:12AM]

COOL!... but what are the real benefits of having an MP3 player shaped like a tube??? I can see that being easier to break/scratch.

[Miles @ Jul 11th 2007 3:32AM]

What is this supposed to revolutionize?

This is a stupid idea, a stupid concept, and pointless.

Do they seriously think they can beat the iPhone or iPod in the mp3 market?

[reticulate @ Jul 11th 2007 3:46AM]

Shut The Fuck Up.

Thanks.

[Caleb @ Jul 11th 2007 6:39PM]

I Concur (with reticulate).

[Tim Goldsmith @ Jul 11th 2007 9:13AM]

i second that.

[me2 @ Jul 11th 2007 3:36AM]

Looks like a fleshlight... I mean flashlight. :P

[Ahmed Alzayani @ Jul 11th 2007 3:53AM]

They need to make it more slim, with the ability to "open/unlock" the OLED Display from the pen to rectangular shape and watch video.

also ... way not go all the way and make it a real pen (you know this tool that pepole from the 20 century used to write with) ...

[Z @ Jul 11th 2007 4:07AM]

It's unique. Attractive. Simple. I really like it.

We need more designers like this who are artists at heart, who have courage and vision and who will take action and break free from the molds to create things like this that offer a fresh outlook on technology and things we use everyday.

Then we need suits who can muster up enough of the same to put them on the shelves. They'd be surprised what people would embrace if they let more designs like these breathe by giving them a chance.

I'm tired from often looking at amazing designs created by minds that are unbridled and inventive - cars, products, UI's, whatever - and knowing that we'll never get our hands on any of those things because some group of closed-minded corpo-monkeys mucked it up or kept it from becoming a reality. I want some of these things in my hands. There's more to the world than just Apple and Microsoft and the standard form.

Think free.

[Darkzero63 @ Jul 11th 2007 4:42AM]

Not only that you can double its use as a flash light.

[evilninjam0nky @ Jul 11th 2007 4:27AM]

That is the coolest thing ever.

[barrywoods @ Jul 11th 2007 5:16AM]

Wasn't this on gizmodo a couple days ago?

[LordFarkward @ Jul 11th 2007 5:44AM]

probably. but then, so what? what are you trying to say?

- that this has been covered *somewhere else*? so? we always see the same news being covered by vast number of websites, so nothing new here

- that this is a 'few days' late? so? while this is an interesting piece of 'news' it's not 'ground breaking news' so we don't need to know it first hand/fresh outta the oven

- that you've came across this news before and hence you're 1337? well i personally don't think it's particularly 1337 to read things that you've already read

sorry in advance, i guess i just really don't get the point, and i'm one of those who hate reading pointless points being made, like "eww so what? this is no ipod", hence my seemingly offensive post.

oh well, at least u haven't then posted an ad for ur website (if u have one)...

[stantla @ Jul 11th 2007 5:48AM]

finally something different something fresh something unique.

oh am i the only 1 getting sick of people bringing ipods and iphones into anything that plays mp3 and thinking that they r the greatest thing to grace the earth

[PJK @ Jul 11th 2007 6:30AM]

Very nice design. It needs to be encased in aircraft grade aluminium like the latest corsair memory stick. That way when you remove its glowing goodness it'll appear like a radioactive rod of bluetonium.

[kin @ Jul 11th 2007 7:23AM]

Very fresh design, but the size is really a turn off. The the graphic even compare it to the length of a pencil.

[Atanas Boev @ Jul 11th 2007 8:09AM]

The volume and navigation wheels should be placed the other way around - volume next to the phones jack, and navigation next to the select button.
The controlthat you would use without looking on the screen is the volume one, and then you can hold the whole pencil on the hand, covering the screen anyway. If it hangs on your neck, you could do it with one hand if the volume is on top (using the thumb and index finger), and much harder, if it is on the bottom.
Also multiple selection - scroll, select, scroll, select. It is inconvinient if the scroll is on one end, and select on the other. If they are on the same side, you can operate with one hand, and hold the device with the other.

[Chris Williams @ Jul 11th 2007 8:56AM]

Thanks for all the comments so far.

Atanas Boev - Yes I considered the location of the scroll wheel and volume at great length ; initially i did have them the way around that you suggest. However, for single-handed 'instant' use, I feel that Play/pause and Volume are primary requirements (I'm always adjusting volume when using my own DAP) ; your thumb would click the top play/pause, with your thumb/forefinger operating the volume.

Selection and navigation is essentially a 2-handed process with the MusiPen (its primary design weakness compared with an iPod in my view, but this is reclaimed with a fully visual navigation path) and would more likely require the viewing of the screen than the Volume function, hence my decision.

However, this is not to say that with revision all the controls could be located at the play/pause end of the unit. But as an initial concept, I wanted to keep it clear and simple. The reality would be endless useability testing which would probably change the design considerably anyway.

The primary strength of this concept is indeed the screen, and its readability/scale is essential to its (if any) design success ; however if you consider it being upto 15cm in width this is approaching 3x the screen width of a 5G iPod Photo...

Warmest regards, Chris.

[Jeff Lewis @ Jul 11th 2007 11:40AM]

Now, if they can get MacOS X on it, I'd buy one.

[Matt @ Jul 11th 2007 11:47AM]

Looks cool, but I don't think that it is manufacturable with current technology. LCD sort of need to be flat today. So, I wouldn't knock the existing DAPs as being "oversaturated with sameness" just because they can actually be built in this world. I'm sure that we'd see a lot more diversity if designers were only constrained by the limits of 3DSMax. Anyway, it is cool that folks are thinking out of the box a bit...

[Juaquin @ Jul 11th 2007 1:46PM]

Uhhh....ever heard of e-ink or OLED or any number of new display technologies that can be bended and rolled? I believe Engadget themselves has covered such technology extensively.

[Matt @ Jul 11th 2007 1:59PM]

These technologies are still in the prototype phase and are not currently manufacturable, at least not in any volume or at consumer price points. Don't get me wrong... making pretty pictures of products that can be built in 3 or 5 years is interesting and fun. But my point was that you can't really fault the products that are on the shelf today for not using technologies that aren't yet available.

[farfisa @ Jul 11th 2007 12:15PM]

If you do the right combination of turns, is there a clue inside?

[bruckwine @ Jul 11th 2007 2:25PM]

Really like this...now for them to confirm it's encased in glass like the iPhone - if it's as good as an iPod (or better yet a creative zen) wrt function i will get one for sure!

[rich @ Jul 11th 2007 4:06PM]

Should be a hit at raves.

[TyPe @ Jul 11th 2007 4:38PM]

Looks like I can leave those glow sticks at home and just bring a couple of these to my next rave.