Xenophone

Xenophone is a speaker that is shaped like a mask. Using bone conduction technology, it creates a visceral experience for users to connect with their ancestral stories in a tactile way: by literally hearing stories through their bones. Upon recording a story with, for instance, their grandmother, the audio file lives within the mask and can be heard only when the user inhabits it. The product elevates one's unique family history to something that is to be protected and preserved, especially for 2-3rd generation immigrants. Watch product video on https://vimeo.com/271154651

Manako Tamura is an experience designer who received her MFA in Products of Design from School of Visual Arts in 2018. Her design manifesto is to solve the pain point of fitting in, which is her way of saying design for inclusion. This ethos manifested in her MFA thesis, Hacking the Racial Binary, where she sought to subvert the process of cultural assimilation especially for Asian Americans through workshops, apps, services, industrial design, and experience design.