squawk map by devin hunt download the project (.zip ~ 1 meg) (this project runs within processing) The purpose behind squawk map is to create a sonification of a cityscape that would allow a person to navigate a urban enviroment solely through auditory artifacts that are produce by the people, buildings and traffic of a modern urban area. A downtown area produces an broad sound scape that consists of natural noises (birds, people), artificial sounds (trains, horns) and all wave forms in between. We often use these sonic participates for navigating, usually subconsciously. squawk map puts forth the question, as humans, how well can we navigate within a city using only auditory perception? squawk map is constructed from two main components: a visual map and a sonic map. While the visual map is a static image the sonic map is a dynamic system that changes based on position. The sonic map, in the current iteration, is composed of five sound-scapes: minor road, surface road, highway, park, and pedestrian. squawk map uses the current location of scrutiny on the visual map to produce a unique sonic map. Technically an area around the mouse is captured and each pixel processed. Each color of the map represents a different type of city feature. For example, white is a small road or way; a yellow line is a major street or boulevard. The concentrations of each color is thus collected and used to set the volume of each clip. The newly weighted clips are thus combined and sent to the audio buffer. In squawk map, this is all done real-time. This allows for auditory recognition of urban locations merely from blending common sounds found in each area. Granted, the resolution very low in the current form, but effective. For example, try to find where a highway crosses an avenue. Slowly sweep the mouse across the map and listen to the morphing sound-scape. A blend of honking cars (representing yellow paths) and whooshing cars (representing highways) would produce a acceptable answer. Because the system averages over an area, squawk map produces a very realistic sound-scape of downtown areas. Using squawk map: Sound forms used and their meaning: White Road: Rumbling Cars |
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