Acknowledging a lack of solutions to help visually impaired children to apprehend their movements and surroundings, a team lead by IIT-researcher Monica Gori created the ABBI project. Built with young children in mind, this bracelet is generating audio based on body movement and spatial localisation and, therefore, helping them interacting with other and their surroundings. … [Read more...]
Auditory Icons
Guest Contribution by Chris Didlick The term ‘auditory icons’ was coined by Bill Gaver in the early 1980’s during his research into the use of sound for Apple’s file management application ‘Finder’. This term has become commonplace in the shifting world of digital and is deemed the sonic equivalent to visual icons seen within most operating systems, whether that be on your … [Read more...]
The Feels of Interactive Audio
[Author’s note: much of what I describe below could be construed as “reactive audio,” not “interactive” because sound is most often reacting to other systems and world parameters rather than directly affecting them in a feedback loop. For the sake of brevity and sanity I will refer to both reactive and interactive sounds below using the widely accepted and used term of … [Read more...]
Monthly Theme: Sound for Interactivity
Active. Reactive. Interactive. Hyperactive? How do we approach making sounds for things that make sounds when things happen? What are the considerations and affordances necessary obscure the strings enough to make the sonic marionette believable and delightful? What really defines interactivity? … [Read more...]