Sound-Based Thinking and Design Practices with Embodied Extensions

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Sound-based Thinking and Design
Practices with Embodied Extensions
Erin Lewis
Vidmina Stasiulyte
University of Borås
University of Borås
501 90 Borås
501 90 Borås
erin.lewis@hb.se
vidmina.stasiulyte@hb.se
ABSTRACT
The discourse surrounding intangible materials in interaction design is often directed toward
computational materials [2, 9], however, this studio focuses on sonic and electromagnetic fields as
intangible materials with distinctive qualities and methods of interaction. Participants explore the
notion of extended body by augmenting their natural hearing abilities through body-space-object
interactions. Using analog and radio-frequency (RF) sonic extenders, participants direct, block,
amplify, and filter sounds, and perceive the surrounding electromagnetic landscape, thereby
creating a “super sense” of heightened audition. This sonic experience explores the sensorial
possibilities of the future body, where aural augmentation could take place. Using soundwalking
and soundmapping as methods, participants explore transitive sonic forms that change their
qualities and content over time in downtown Sydney. Participants produce a collective soundmap
identifying embodied sonic extensions and acousmatic techniques, along with movements,
gestures, and choreographies. This data will be used to stimulate a final discussion.
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TEI’20 Extended Abstracts, February 9-12, 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
© 2020 Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).
ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-6107-1/20/02.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3374920.3374970
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TEI ’20, February 9–12, 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia
889

KEYWORDS
Embodied sonic extensions; soundwalk;
soundmap; body augmentation;
intangibles
Figure 1: Analog Sonic Extender:
blocking (a) in-front and (b) above
Figure 2: Analog Sonic Extender:
(a) filtering and (b) directing.
SCHEDULE
1. Introduction: Materials and Methods
2. Soundwalk 1: Ambient Space Exploration
Lunch Break
3. Soundwalk 2: Urban Space Exploration
4. Group Soundmap; Reflection; Discussion
DETAILED PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION
Sonic Extenders
Sonic body extenders are experiential knowledge generators for sound-based thinking practices
and interaction design. Although the human body has natural limits to audition, it is possible to
extend these limits through aural and perceptual augmentation. The sonic extenders allow one to
experience the changes in-depth perception, e.g. when the listening position is shifted or the
listening device is modified. The designed objects (sonic extenders) suggest ways of directing,
blocking, amplifying, and filtering sounds in our environments, as well as perceiving sounds
normally unavailable to us, such as electromagnetism. The sonic extenders are grouped into (a)
analog and (b) radio-frequency (RF) and have been selected and designed with particular qualities
showed in Fig. 5.
Analog Objects
Sounds appear not as fixed, but as a flux, therefore the study of sound begins with fundamental
experience – listening. Listening is a way of thinking which concentrates an intense examination
on lived-body experience in its multifaceted, complex, and essential forms [10]. Embodied and
situated listening is investigated within different analog objects. The experimental analog objects
work as acoustically-oriented body extenders as presented in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. These listening
objects intensify the experience: dampen some sounds and emphasize others, sounds are
magnified, filtered, directed, blocked, etc. Co-listening practices investigate the concepts of ‘shared
sensibility’ [4] and ‘being-plural’ [6] and are used as the method for experiencing sound together
with another person(s). Sonic experience is intensified by acousmatic listening, e.g. blindfolding.
The sonic extenders are design facilitators and idea generators, that reflect the embodied
knowledge in the act of listening. This artistic practice is aiming to develop an alternative
language, variables, and methods for thinking, interacting, and designing with a sonic matter.
Studios
TEI ’20, February 9–12, 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia
890

Figure 3: RF Sonic Extender: Plain knit
with floats, steel, dense, planar
Figure 4: RF Sonic Extender: Plain knit,
copper, loose, cylindrical
RF Objects
Radio-frequency (RF) sonic extenders are performative designed objects that operate as functional
textile antennas as presented in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. They receive electromagnetic frequencies in the
range of 50Mhz to 5Ghz, spanning the range of WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM and GPS, and other wireless
data transmissions [5]. Through the use of custom electronic circuitry, the electromagnetic waves
are converted to audible soundwaves. The textile, formal, and interaction qualities of the RF sonic
extenders influence the frequency reception [7], resulting in varied sonic expressions. Further, the
wearer displaces their sense of audition by listening through RF sonic extenders that are placed in
different locations on or around the body. This allows one to perceive electromagnetic waves at
different heights and directions in relation with the body, giving rise to a body-object-space
interaction. The RF sonic extenders also assist in describing the electromagnetic space that one
occupies. As sound artist, Christina Kubisch notes: “you can only hear them [EMF] in certain
areas. And sometimes, if you move 10 cm to one side or the other, they disappear. I think of them
as electrical corridors.” [1]
Soundmapping
The theoretical framework upon which soundmaps are based derives from earlier research on
acoustic ecology and soundscapes, the latter being a term first coined by Canadian researcher and
music composer R. Murray Schafer in 1960 [8]. Soundscapes of Sydney will be documented within
the visual-audio platforms (Google Maps and Soundcloud) by uploading recorded binaural sounds
and visuals of sonic extender used for listening in the specific place. The soundmap is then
represented as a graphic score with the participants’ annotations spatially distributed as the
experienced place is recalled, and using different marking to signify for example biophony,
geophony, and anthrophony [3]. This data uploaded into a digital map will be the end product
available for public collaboration and representation as seen in Fig. 6.
TOPICS TO BE COVERED
•Sonic and electromagnetic aesthetics;
•Methods for perceiving and interacting with intangible materials;
•Body extensions and body augmentation through designed objects;
•Collective sound mapping as a method of presenting research data.
Studios
TEI ’20, February 9–12, 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia
891

Figure 5: Variables for Sonic Interactions
DISCUSSION OBJECTIVES
•Reflection on sonic and electromagnetic aesthetics;
•Critical perspectives on sound walking and soundmapping as methods;
•Reflection on lived-body practice towards new methods for designing with intangible
materials;
•Critical feedback on the designed objects in use;
•Discussion on future body audition attained through sensorial body augmentation.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
•Documentation of previous facilitated TEI 2018 workshop Kinetic Body Extensions for
Social Interaction: http://socialbodylab.com/kinetic-body-extensions-for-social-
interactions/
•Documentation of previous related international project Beyond Seeing (the investigation
of extended hearing sense and acousmatic listening):
https://www.goethe.de/ins/fr/prj/bes/en/bor.html
•Documentation of the previous related project at the ArcInTex conference
(the study of listening modes with analog and digital sound amplifiers):
https://arcintexetn.com/2016/05/30/listening-modes
REFERENCES
[1] Cox, C. (2006). Invisible cities: an interview with Christina Kubisch. Cabinet Magazine, 21. doi:
http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/21/cox.php
[2] Hallnäs, L., & Redström, J. (2002). From use to presence: on the expressions and aesthetics of everyday computational
things. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 9(2), 106–124. doi: 10.1145/513665.513668
[3] Krause, B. (2008). Anatomy of the soundscape: evolving perspectives. Jour nal of the Audio Engineering Society, 56(1/2),
73–80. doi: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=14377
[4] LaBelle, B. (2018). Sonic Agency: Sound and Emergent Forms of Resistance. MIT Press.
[5] Mehmann, A. (2017). Textile Antennas. In Smart Textiles (pp. 139-159). Springer, Cham. doi:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-50124-6_7
[6] Nancy, J.-L. (2000). Being singular plural. Stanford University Press
[7] Petosa, A. (2013) . Frequency-agile antennas for wireless communications. Artech House.
[8] Schafer, R. M. (1993). The soundscape: Our sonic environment and the tuning of the world. Simon and Schuster.
[9] Vallgårda, A. (2014). Giving form to computational things: developing a practice of interaction design. Personal and
ubiquitous computing, 18(3), 577-592.
[10] Voegelin, S. (2014). Sonic Possible Worlds: Hearing the Continuum of Sound. New York: Bloomsbury Academic
Figure 6: Making an Interactive Sound
Map
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TEI ’20, February 9–12, 2020, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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