Musical Smart City: Perspectives on Ubiquitous Sonification

Abstract

Smart cities are urban areas with sensor networks that collect data used towards efficient management. As a source of ubiquitous data, smart city initiatives present opportunities to enhance inhabitants' urban awareness. However, making sense of smart city data is challenging and there is a gap between available data and end-user applications. Sonification emerges as a promising method for the interpretation of smart city data and the production of novel musical experiences. In this paper, we first present the smart city paradigm. We then cover the topics of ubiquitous and mobile music, followed by an overview of sonification research. Finally, we propose an approach entitled ubiquitous sonification and present the initial design of a speculative use case for musical smart city systems, leveraging user and urban data to inform behaviour.

Design Recommendations for a Collaborative Game of Bird Call Recognition Based on Internet of Sound Practices

“…It comprises different types of audio collectors, pro-cessors and transmitters, and facilitates their integration, local and remote accessibility, and multi-directional communication [10]. Despite the plethora of SC initiatives and the need for utilizing state of the art Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) technologies to realize new forms of participation, most approaches have focused on data visualisation techniques and mostly neglected the acoustic aspect of the urban environment [1,24]. Existing SC applications of distributing information through the auditory channel include the generation of sound content based on urban related data in order to increase users' awareness about their city environment [24,25], the generation of visual maps based on the perceptual attributes of submitted recordings for monitoring and managing the urban acoustic environment [26], and the augmentation of public spaces with audio information for engaging the audience in social experiences [27].…”

Towards Citizen Science for Smart Cities: A Framework for a Collaborative Game of Bird Call Recognition Based on Internet of Sound Practices

“…Despite the plethora of Smart City initiatives and the need for utilizing state of the art Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) technologies to realize new forms of participation, most approaches have focused on data visualisation techniques and mostly neglected the acoustic aspect of the urban environment [1,23]. Existing Smart City applications of distributing information through the auditory channel include the generation of sound content based on urban related data in order to increase users' awareness about their city environment [23,24], the generation of visual maps based on the perceptual attributes of submitted recordings for monitoring and managing the urban acoustic environment [25], and the augmentation of public spaces with audio besides visual information for engaging the audience in social experiences [26]. Furthermore, Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks can be used for the surveillance and analysis of acoustic scenes, urban noise pollution, environmental anomalies, and wildlife [10].…”