HUSH/LISTEN – An Augmented Reality Record

HUSH recently unveiled HUSH/LISTEN, a ‘record’ that, through the use of a custom-made Instagram filter, plays an augmented reality musical composition based on the collective experiences and nostalgia of its employees. To do so, HUSH looked internally at the places their employees have called home and the music that defined them there. Using that geographical and musical history data, they designed a ‘record’ that can be played through Instagram’s Spark AR platform.

HUSH/LISTEN is activated when you use the Instagram filter and click, drag and move your finger over the data points of HUSH staff that are on the printed ‘record’ graphic. While this functionality was specifically designed to be simple and easy to use, the process to bring HUSH/LISTEN to life was more complex. This includes making innovative uses of 3D vectors and creating a digital player-piano that connects specific sounds to each person in the data, determining tonal ranges, patterns and symmetry for the ‘record’ visual, and, perhaps most importantly, creating a streamlined user interface.