Workshops on technology needs of professionals
2019
SSHRC-PDG grant
Société des arts technologiques, ARUP
Professionals of the built environment were invited to take part in a workshop with the Sounds in the City team.
Activities included a an ‘immersive playground’ of different technologies, a collaborative design activity in state-of-the-art facilities, and focus groups, which fed into the designs for new sound planning tools.
Soundscape planning is still an uncommon approach, as are tools that facilitate such proactive planning. In the summer of 2019, we held a futures workshop with urban professionals (including planners and designers) to help determine what technologies we could help add to their city planning toolbox.
In the workshop, we introduced basic principles of the soundscape approach, as well as different technologies that could help with future soundscape planning, through three main activities:
1) an ‘immersive playground’: experimenting with technologies like VR sets with soundscapes (HTC Vive Pro, Oculus Go, and smartphone-based VR sets) and other laptop simulations
2) a participatory soundscape design session in the state-of-the-art multimedia room at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT)
3) focus groups discussing current challenges of professionals and potential needs, if they were to begin to engage with soundscape designs on their own.
We integrated these results of the activities into the designs for a prototype virtual reality tool. Development is underway and scheduled for trials in the upcoming months.
For details, please contact: Richard Yanaky, Daniel Steele