hotcake’s modular speakers and wearables bring remote jam sessions to life

Hotcake: A Modular System for Shared Music-Making

Hotcake is a modular system designed to enable collaborative music-making regardless of location. The project integrates a speaker unit called Cake with a wearable device named Butter, combining 3D spatial audio with haptic feedback to reproduce the sense of playing together in the same space. Designers Woojin Jang, Eunhye Jang, Hyeryoung Jeong, Ilyeo Lee, and Chaeeun Kim join to realize the creative project.

Combining Sound and Touch for Remote Collaboration

The Cake system consists of three modular speakers and a subwoofer station, which together generate spatial sound for immersive group sessions. Each module receives live audio signals from the station via a 2.4GHz RF channel, while wired Ethernet ensures stable, low-latency performance. This configuration minimizes delay or interruptions, allowing participants to remain synchronized even across long distances. The Butter device translates sound into vibrations, giving users a tactile sense of rhythm alongside the auditory experience. The design includes additional features such as metronome mode for maintaining tempo and a built-in microphone for direct communication.

Hotcake Merges Acoustic and Physical Musical Experience

By combining modular sound hardware with haptic wearables, Hotcake recreates both the acoustic and physical dimensions of live music. The design enables remote jam sessions that balance sound fidelity, timing accuracy, and embodied musical interaction.

project info:

name: Hotcake
design team: Woojin Jang | @woojinjid, Eunhye Jang | @ihaveaspirit, Hyeryoung Jeong | @hyeryoung2, Ilyeo Lee | @leeilyeoo, Chaeeun Kim | @rlaeunoia