LUMONOTETANGIBLE USER INTERFACES

LUMONOTE
Physical voice notes.

A contextual voice-note device that attaches to household objects. When placed near an item (e.g., the fridge, the washing machine), it plays reminders, helping housemates remember chores, tasks, or shopping needs in a non-intrusive way.

Course: Tangible User Interfaces
Mentors: Massimo Banzi, Pierluigi Dalla Rosa
Team: Vedant, Gahan, Rohan




Instead of adding another app or notification, Lumonote embeds memory into the home itself, using voice as a gentle, non-intrusive way to support shared living and enhance interaction between people.

USE CASES
Imagine leaving a meal for your roommate, texts get ignored; sticky notes fall off. Instead, you place Lumonote on the refrigerator door. It creates a physical 'flag' for your voice, ensuring that when they return, the message is waiting for them, personal and impossible to miss.
Or maybe, you’ve packed the night before, only to walk out without your passport. Mental checklists can fail when you're stressed or in a rush. Instead, you place Lumonote on the door frame. The pulsing red light catches your eye the moment you reach for the handle, forcing a pause to hear the critical reminder - "Don't forget the tickets and ID!”.
For daily medication of the elderly, proximity is key. Placed directly on the bedside, Lumonote anchors the reminder to the physical task. One press -"Dad, time for your pills", delivers the message personally and in context.
A silent Airbnb arrival can feel impersonal, and a PDF manual feels transactional. Placed beside the entrance, Lumonote offers an asynchronous handshake, turning an empty space into a warm, human welcome.
PROTOTYPING
We worked on this from ideation to a functional prototype in ~10 days. The team wrote a library for the DF-Robot component used for audio functions. There were several iterations on the each part of the product, like the knurling and shape of the knob and the case itself.



The team worked on several lo-fi prototypes to decide on the form factor and the primary interactions for the device using a bunch of readily available materials like foam, cups, cardboard, and paper. once we bodystormed and took feedback from mentors and peers, we began working on making it real.



We CAD modelled the case and various knobs to explore the best form and tactile feel. We focused on making each interaction as clear as possible. Playing with light & sound in software, experimenting with the form of the knob (knurling, surface), and exploring different materials and colour – all came together as important signifiers to improve affordance.



Testing everything on a breadboard, before packaging it.

Lumonote runs on an Arduino MKR1010 WiFi, DF-Robot DFR0745, LED NeoPixel Ring, 5W Speaker + Battery.


Packaging all the components needed to run this project on a PCB. 

a concept exploring the use of light based interactions that reflect on the surface that the device is stuck to.

3D printing the shell.

This project was also displayed at Impact Minds 2024 in Italy - a large global gathering for interaction design.



“I can see myself using this at work! perfect to let people know when equipment room access is restricted.”

- Sr IXD at Siemens Healthcare “Good job on the interactions. They convey what's needed.”

- Don Norman

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UPDATED JAN,2026