Augmenting Urban Space with Environmental Soundscapes and Mobile Technologies

Abstract

As locative media and augmented reality swell into mainstream culture, this article traces my creative explorations with locative sound, stretching across a decade of practice. The featured projects are all embedded into larger research initiatives, which are designed to explore the value of acoustic ecology as a socially engaged, accessible and interdisciplinary field that can inspire communities across the world to listen to their environment. These interconnected projects draw on sound walking, mobile technologies and locative media to investigate the role of sound in achieving presence and connection to place. The creative works are accompanied by the introduction of new projects that are informed by this research, and reflections on the future possibilities of locative media in exploring layers of our social, cultural and ecological environments through sound.