Since Anne-Marie and I have started leading weekly soundwalks on campus back in February 2018, we haven’t had many participants. We usually end up with a handful of faithful regulars that come back around for a few times, but eventually dissipate for unknown reasons. Who knows? Maybe it’s just the Arizona heat that’s repelling people in these first few months of the semester.

Recently, however, Anne-Marie have been extra determined to expand our program and reach out to more students, faculty, staff, and community members. We have created our own website (https://asusoundwalks.weebly.com), we made (arguably cute) business cards, we updated our logo and printed flyers to post around our school, we have presented our program to various classes in the School of Music to gain more student participants, we performed a Pauline Oliveros piece at a School of Music social event, and we’ve done many more behind-the-scenes planning that we are excited to begin to enact. We are ready to take this program to the next level!

On our Wednesday, September 12th, 2018 soundwalk, we had a total of six participants! The majority of them were first-year music school students who heard about our soundwalk via my presentation to their class earlier this week. They were very engaged with our pre-soundwalk description of what the acoustic ecology lab does, some basic modes of listening, and things to “listen” out for while on our journey. Some of the questions they asked before we started included, “What kinds of things should we look out for?” — a great question for someone being introduced to a soundwalk. We explained that soundwalks can use many different modes of listening, including picking out individual sounds, listening to the entire sphere of sound at once, comparing two or more sounds together at once, and countless other possibilities.

After our soundwalk, which was wonderfully led by Anne-Marie, our eager participants fruitfully participated in the discussion that we initiated, and began telling us all of the new things that they noticed while paying closer attention to the sounds of our campus. From being more aware of animal presence to noticing how truly loud machinery noise can be, I’d say that we successfully introduced our participants to the wonderful world of acoustic ecology. We hope that they’ll all come back to join us on a soundwalk (or many more soundwalks) in the future, and we are excited to see how much more our program keeps growing! Stay tuned for more good news from the Acoustic Ecology Lab in the future!

Over the weekend, the Acoustic Ecology Lab presented at the Arid Lands Symposium at Scottsdale Community College in three different ways, providing meaningful outreach to the scientific communities (both professionals and citizen-scientists) of the Valley. Anne-Marie Shaver, Bailey Reynolds, and I created a poster about the sounds of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, mostly regarding how the flight noise above the land is adversely affecting the wildlife; Garth Paine gave a talk on Psychoacoustic Diversity; and I led a soundwalk planned by Anne-Marie during the Saturday lunch break.

I think it’s important to preface this blog with the fact that this conference was strongly rooted in the life sciences domain, so I’m extremely happy with how well our semi-arts-based presentations were received there. In fact, we had multiple people ask us for our business card so they could potentially get us involved in their various projects, such as community outreach for Maricopa County, Pima County, and the Town of Scottsdale, as well as brainstorming ways to get people more in touch with nature. While a number of people were intrigued by our poster presentation, the peak interest in our work undoubtedly came from the hands-on experience of the lunchtime soundwalk.

The soundwalk, though it was the largest group I’ve ever taken (there were about 12 people on the walk), it went smoothly and felt quite normal, where people felt awkward at first due to years of social conditioning telling them that all sonic absences need to be filled with music or conversation, but eventually the mood shifted to a point where everyone was comfortable enough to focus on the wide array of sounds that encapsulated them in a fruitful soundscape. The route, carefully crafted by Anne-Marie, was perfect for the walk, including locations with water, grass, gravel, concrete, bridges, heavy vegetation, and ceilings overhead. The birdsong was robust, and the campus was so calm that we could hear the sound of insects flying, with enough concentration.

The most intriguing part of the soundwalk, however, was the discussion that happened afterward. The unique combination of town and county representatives, scientists,  and other professionals helped facilitate a rich discussion about our observations during the soundwalk. One woman notably mentioned that she had accidentally forgotten to do her meditation that morning, but participating in the soundwalk helped clear her mind and essentially replace it. Moreover, another person was very concerned with how noise created by machines was disrupting the sounds of nature and wanted to know of ways to remedy it, which was inspiring to hear.

From the very beginning, one of our main goals in the lab has been to increase sonic awareness in the community, and I think that all three of our presentations greatly succeeded at it this weekend. It was inspiring to see an audience of life scientists captivated by Garth’s talk, and overall, our presence at the event led to a great number of scientists being introduced to Acoustic Ecology for the very first time. I’m proud of our work this year and our performances this weekend, and I think that events like these are the stepping stones to accomplishing even bigger feats in the future.

Last night was one of the monthly First Friday events, hosted by various organizations in the Phoenix area. The lab was lucky enough to come across the opportunity to partake in an event that was specifically hosted by ASU’s Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy in the Westward Ho building. While equipped with three posters, two VR headsets, and an energetic atmosphere, our small  (yet effective) team from the lab was able to thoroughly educate and, in most cases, entertain everyone who stopped by.

One of the first things that we noticed when we set up our station, though, was how diverse and unique the First Friday community was. There were people from all “walks of life” — old, young, poor, wealthy, ill, healthy, and many more. However, by being present in that ballroom yesterday evening and demoing our VR headsets, along with explaining what the lab does and how what we do applies to the medical field, it seemed like all social barriers were completely nullified.

It’s hard to explain.

Perhaps the best way to put it is that when something is meaningful enough to people, when something clearly has the power to change the world for the better, to help people in need, to inspire change, to motivate research and innovation, and to instill the desire to create something impactful, the social dynamics of an environment inevitably shift. Suddenly, nothing in the room becomes more important than the thing that could potentially change the world.

Last night, the thing that people thought could change the world, was our project with the VR headsets. I had countless people approach me with genuine excitement, joy, and wonder, asking me how soon we could have our technology implemented in hospitals nationwide. Most memorably, I spoke with a woman who worked in nursing, and she passionately explained to me that the majority of patients who are terminally ill and are likely to pass away rapidly usually pity that their place of death is in a white, sterile, unknown place. She continued, and articulated that passing over would be much more peaceful and serene for patients if they had the opportunity to remotely travel to a national park of their choosing.

I also had the chance to speak with two people who worked as full-time caregivers for people of various states of mental and physical health. They explained that most of the people for whom they give care often never leave their homes, or even go into their own backyards, which often leads to a much faster declination of mental well-being than people who regularly go outdoors. Moreover, they went on to say that if each of their patients had the chance to use our technology to visit different places all over the globe, or watch concerts as if they were truly there, their happiness, motivation, and energy levels would dramatically increase.

Overall, the amount of pure emotional investment that we got in return from displaying and presenting the work that we do with the lab was outstanding. People from all “walks of life” were wholeheartedly supportive of our work and wanted to see more of it, and there were folks who approached our table not knowing a single thing about what we do, but left with magnificent smiles on their faces.

Clearly, the work that we do leaves people with a genuine sense of hope and excitement about the future, and I think that’s quite an honorable accomplishment.

Davide Straninger and Andreas Uhl using a laser distance measuring tool to calulate the distance and angles of the 12 speaker locations of the sound system.

Image by Cornelius Poepel

A team of scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California – San Diego has been using the power of sound to their advantage. In recent studies conducted in a marine preserve near the Cabo Pulmo National Park in Mexico, the team used sonar technology to send sound signals into the water and record what “bounced” back. Once they had this information, they were able to apply their knowledge of hydroacoustics, the study of the behavior of sound in water, to get an idea of how many fish were occupying the preserve, and even record the physical properties of these animals, such as their density, size, and shape.

Moreover, according to the article from Australia’s Science Channel, the team of scientists who used sonar technology to count the fish were able to complete their task roughly 125,000% more quickly than the team who solely used visual observations. While using sonar technology to count and observe fish may seem like the obvious solution to a lack of efficiency, visual observations do offer a higher degree of detail about the fish, such as their specific species, color, and activity.

However, hydroacoustic and sonar technologies are only advancing, so it’s highly likely that in the future they will be able to provide us with almost all of the information that visual observations can about marine life, and save scientists thousands of hours of tedious work.

Without words …

Setting up ILERo (assembling and image by Andreas Uhl)

Having established the cooperation with Departamento de Sonido at Facultad de Artes of Universidad de Chile we were working hard in organizing material for setting up ILERo. What is ILERo? The acronym ILERo is a short form for Immersive Listening Experience Room.

Draft Immersive Listening Experience Room (Image: Andreas Uhl)

The room offers a 12.2 channel sound system and six projection surfaces for the visuals. One of the objectives is to undertake research in how far virtual reality scenarios of the Listen(n) project differ in the perception in comparison to the perception via EcoRift.

Andreas Uhl, student of the Ansbach MIK Master program has made a big effort in planning the room. He is now working on setting it up. We are very happy that the director Dr. Hans Mehringer of the Ansbach company Die Muggergittermacher has offered a room at the company’s industrial site to set up and test the system.

Room for setting up ILERo (Image: Andreas Uhl)

This room will be filled with the ILERo AV materials. We will keep you posted. Stay tuned.

Director of ILERo: Prof. Dr. Cornelius Poepel
Scientific assistance: Robert Kraemer
Developer / Setting up: Andreas Uhl
Student assistance: Davide Straninger

ILERo is a project of KoSI

Every half-year, thunderous fireworks illuminate our skies with burning colors as millions of Americans gather together to celebrate either Independence Day or New Year’s Eve. It seems like almost everyone has a fear of these artistic explosions at some point during their upbringing, and the reasons for this should be obvious: loud, sometimes ear-splitting booms enter our ears, the smell of sulfur, along with countless other pungent odors, enters our nostrils, and bright lights flash in the sky like lightning, providing our irises with heavy-duty exercises as we helplessly try to readjust to the darkness.

In the long run, it would be naïve to say that humans naturally enjoy fireworks. If it weren’t for the wondrous capacities of our frontal lobes, we would likely perceive them as lightning, and appropriately respond with fear, confusion, and a burning will to survive. Animals, on the other hand, lifeforms that don’t have the same reasoning capabilities as humans, likely think that the skies are lashing out and truly threatening their chances of survival. Wild animals like rabbits and birds have been observed abandoning their young in order to flee an area with concentrated fireworks, and larger animals, like deer and foxes, have been observed attempting to cross major roads in order to flee fireworks, creating a highly unsafe environment for both the animals and the drivers.

Domestic animals, like dogs, cats, and horses, react similarly to fireworks, but with the added luxury of having their owners to help calm them down. While they’re usually far more intelligent than wild animals, most domestic animals will still react with fear, stress, and nervousness when they experience fireworks, and many pets have fled their homes in the past and have sadly never returned. In fact, it might be a good idea to stay home with pets that are especially prone to firework anxiety, so they are in good care and out of harm’s way.

So, are there any benefits to our lavish semi-annual firework displays? I would argue not, besides the joy and memories we get from the celebrations. Between the release of poisonous chemicals into our atmosphere, the detrimental auditory and visual effects on animals and humans, and the pollution created by the lights and sounds of these monstrosities, there’s not much room to say that we’re doing the earth a favor.

While fireworks genuinely do provide joy, happiness, and fun for millions of people in the United States, it might be beneficial if more people were aware of their effects on all aspects of our environment.

After having brought the Listen(n) Project to the bird island of the „Altmühlsee“ in Germany, we are now facing the next step of collaboration: Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Artes, Department of Sound Engineering.

Within the department of Arts, the „Universidad de Chile“ in Santiago has its own „Sound Department“ where students who are fascinated by the universe of sound have the possibility to learn about all its facets.

One of the professors is Carla Badani Schoneweg. Professor Badani is mainly teaching acoustics and pychoacoustics since 1994 but also did a lot of research and development on architectural acoustics and investigating the communication of emotions via sound in the human speech. This spring (2017) she came to visit the University of Applied Sciene in Ansbach (Ansbach UAS) in Germany together with one of her students. This was the moment when the cooperation between the founders of the Listen(n) Project and Prof. Cornelius Poepel (Ansbach UAS) was joined by Prof. Badani Schoneweg. Now, half a year later, Cornelius Poepel and Luisa Filip, a master student of „Multimedia and Information“, are visiting the Universidad de Chile in Santiago to finally start the collaboration for the Listen(n) Project. This visit is funded by the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR).

In addition to doing a workshop with the Chilean students on the Listen(n) Project, they are going out on several fieldtrips with the aim of finding some first possible spots for nature recordings around the city of Santiago.

Places could be for example found in the Yerba Loca National Park, in the Park El Arrayan or a bit farer away in the natural area of Cajon del Maipo. As Chile with its very huge north-south dimension, so to say a unique shape and variety of different landscapes, we believe that there is a huge potential in adding valuable content for the Listen(n) Project.

Prof. Badani Schoneweg and Luisa Filip doing field recordings

As the interest of the students and their Professor, Carla Badani Schoneweg, in the Listen(n) Project has been strenghtend in a talk and a workshop, we expect to welcome the first sounds of Chile soon in the Listen(n)-Database.

Prof. Cornelius Poepel’s talk on the Listen(n) Project and Audio Signal-Driven Sound Synthesis