Being and mixing : designing interactive soundscapes

• This paper describes a study of the auditory environment in a chemical factory, and how a group of process operators ascribe meaning to a selection of sound clips from their daily work environment. We argue for a design-oriented phenomenological approach to soundscape studies, and suggest an approach based on an exploration of how already occurring sounds are used. This knowledge will be used to inform the design of new useful auditory environments. Our study shows that the richness of the auditory environment is a crucial aspect of the distributed work environment. An important part of the design process is the operator’s contribution to the concepts suggested. From design workshops several design concepts aiming to explore and test different approaches for making sound affordances available have been developed. This has led us to a new understanding of how interactive soundscapes enable distributed awareness – what we refer to as ’Being and Mixing’.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Annan data- och informationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Other Computer and Information Science (hsv//eng)

Keyword

auditory interfaces

non-speech audio

process control

smooth notification

social awareness

sound recognition

soundscape

ubiquitous computing

SRA - ICT

SRA - Informations- och kommunikationsteknik

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)