Following up on the recent essay on ‘Sensation‘, MEX alumnus Ben King shared this article on ‘Picle‘, an iOS application which records a short sound clip to augment and enhance photo memories. Picles are replayed by combining the onscreen image with the evocative sound recorded when it was taken.

Picles from around the world from Made By Many on Vimeo.

At first glance, the concept sounds like a restrictive form of video, but in use, Picle manages to achieve the feeling of a new medium, more focused on encouraging the minds’ eye to recall memories. Videos, in contrast, focus the user on consuming the moving image in front of them.

It is an example of how tapping the forgotten dimension of sound can enhance mobile user experience, a theme at the heart of MEX Pathway #9.

Thanks to Ben, one of the Brunel designers from the December 2011 MEX, for sharing the link.