Retrosphere

Reimagining the vinyl ritual as a sptail, mixed-reality listening experience

Timeline

Nov 2025

Role

Web Developer
3D Designer

Tools

Swift
Reality Composer
Blender

Team

Cici Fang

Retrosphere

an immersive vinyl listening experience that turns music from background noise into a spatial ritual

In contemporary life, music is everywhere yet rarely centered—often reduced to background noise while we work, study, and scroll. While vinyl listening demands intention, care, and presence, it remains tied to a fixed physical setup and space. At the same time, immersive listening environments like Hi-Fi bars offer depth and focus but are limited to specific venues, while streaming apps prioritize convenience over engagement.

Retrosphere asks: what if the ritual of vinyl listening wasn’t confined to a corner of your home? By reimagining the vinyl experience through mixed reality, Retrosphere transforms music from passive consumption into an intentional, spatial ritual that can exist anywhere.

concept
statement

Background

Music follows us everywhere...
but when did we last truly listen?

We study, work, scroll, and move through our day with playlists always running in the background. Music has become ambient noise rather than a centered experience.

Current Music Listening Experience

Illustration of a vinyl listening room / HiFi bar environment

Vinyl Listening Rooms / HiFi Bars

Spaces built for deep, intentional listening. Tactile, ritualistic, immersive by design

BUT passive – limited to specific venues, no interaction

Mobile Music Apps

Convenient & multitasking listening. Personalized mood curation

BUT music stays in the background – no ritual, no sense of place

Challenge

How can we move music from ambient background to an intentional ritual — without losing the ease of streaming?

Solution

With Mixed Reality

Retrosphere combines the intentionality of vinyl with the accessibility of streaming — anchoring music inside your real physical space.

Hand Tracking

Spin, drag, tap to interact with XR vinyl objects ⟶ simulate real life experience

Spatial Audio

Music increase/decrease with its distance to the user

Infinite Canvas

Users can scale and reposition the entire scene anywhere Allow for multitasking

At-Home Immersion

Immersive space window ⟶ private music sanctuary anywhere

Music becomes part of the user’s real environment

Vinyl exists inside their living space
Users can work, study, or relax while the record player sits on their desk

Embodied & interactive listening

Ambient particles & interactive elements respond to movement, encouraging whole body engagement
Users can physically move, spin, and interact with the scene
Supports both active and ambient/therapeutic modes

New creative relationship with music

Every session is unique, shaped by the listener’s playlist
Break the barrier of physical location – no special room, setup, or listening equipment required
Reframes the listener as not just an audience, but as a music creator shaping the experience through interaction

Person interacting with spatial vinyl interface at a desk

Person relaxing in a chair with floating vinyl interface in room

Design Development

Userflow

Storyboard

User can drag the turntable aroundt
Tap on the jumping orb
CD starts playing

Album info shows up
User can navigate down to the button to “enter dream”

User will find a scene shows up around them – a 3D album art
Walk into the scene and interact with the objects

Tap the button again to switch album experiences & visit different immersive spaces

Creative
Process

Future Vision

AI Integration

Adaptive Soundscapes

Instead of selecting music by genre or artist, users can enter a mood or color keyword. The system interprets these inputs as emotional and aesthetic signals, translating them into musical characteristics like tempo, energy, instrumentation, and atmosphere.

Using these signals, AI curates a one-of-a-kind playlist that reflects the user’s input rather than relying on pre-existing genre labels. Each playlist is generated dynamically, meaning the same keyword can produce different results across sessions, reinforcing the idea of music as a living, evolving experience rather than a static library.

Listening Ritual Coach

Future versions of Retrosphere could use generative AI to dynamically create immersive environments based on the music being played.

Instead of fixed album scenes, visual elements -- lighting, textures, spatial layouts, and particle systems—could be generated in real time by analyzing audio features such as tempo, rhythm, spectral density, and emotional tone. Each listening session would produce a slightly different visual world, making every playthrough feel unique and ephemeral, much like live music.

Collaborative Sessions

AI models could infer the emotional qualities of a track or even the listener’s mood over time by analyzing listening behavior, song transitions, and interaction patterns.

The immersive environment could subtly respond by:

Shifting color palettes based on mood.
Altering spatial depth or motion intensity.
Modifying particle behavior or ambient elements.

Retrosphere

Retrosphere