20 May 2011
'Acoustic poetry' helps the deaf to connect to everyday soundscapes
Images of Michail’s project are available at http://blog.mikevanis.com.
A new way of enabling profoundly deaf people to more effectively engage with their environment has been devised by a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.
'Acoustic Poetry' is the brainchild of Michail Vanis, a final year Digital Interaction Design student at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee. Michail has designed a device which allows deaf people to record their everyday soundscape and send this to a human interpreter who will text back a detailed description of the sounds that have been captured.
Michail (21) said he decided to explore how those with hearing difficulties interact with the soundscape after becoming interested in deaf culture. The product he has designed to visualise soundscapes is one of the near-300 exhibits on display at this year’s Dundee Degree Show.
It takes the form of a box containing the necessary equipment to record and transmit the sounds, and a screen to display the description that the reader will then send. By pushing the central section of the device, the user activates the microphone which picks up the sounds of that particular environment. The description will then flash up on the screen once the interpreter has processed the recording.
Michail, who is originally from Athens and who came to Dundee to study, has been working with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf whilst carrying out the project, and hopes that it will spark a conversation about how designing for deaf culture could be more exploratory and emotional.
'The idea is that a deaf person who feels curious about the soundscape can experience it more than is currently possible,' he said. 'It is important that the person doing the interpreting provides a very detailed description to the user to give them some idea of the sounds and atmosphere. In around 100 words, they need to be as descriptive as possible, to fill their reply full of adjectives and really capture the essence of that particular soundscape.
'I wanted to do something that I hadn’t done before so I could challenge myself. I started thinking about deaf culture and how it is unique in the way people communicate through sign language and that made me to consider our relationship with sound. We take photographs and record moving images, and although video might also take in the audio, it is secondary to the visuals - we never just capture sound to remind us of what we heard.
'The soundscape alters our perspective of a place, but this is something that profoundly deaf people miss out on. They may have a favourite café or other place that they have been going to for years but have no idea what music is played, or any of the other sounds that give that place its particular atmosphere.
'What I wanted to do was see if there was a way of letting them experience this soundscape and help them to engage with their surroundings more meaningfully.'
As part of his research, Michail asked friends and colleagues to describe the soundscape in their favourite places and explain how this contributed to their enjoyment of that place. The places selected varied enormously – from the bathroom of a Perth Road flat to an espresso machine in a café - but Michail says his helped him understand people’s experiences of the soundscape.
Furthermore, he says it was enormously useful in learning the process of how to describe the soundscape and how this can help to give the reader a sense of it. The prototype Michail has developed is deliberately less polished than some products featuring at the Degree Show, and the designer says this is to show how its primary function should be as a socially useful tool rather than a commercial product.
'I spent a lot of time communicating with the RNID’s senior industrial designer when I was developing this project,' he continued. 'I got some great feedback, with him saying that he had never seen such a fresh approach to design for deaf people, so hopefully this is something we can develop further.
'The fact the interpreter crafts a profound, poetic description of the soundscape, is more appealing to a deaf person than if they were simply receiving a bland analysis. This enriches the connection with their environment, which is a departure from existing medical sound awareness devices. I hope to show that designing for deaf culture could be more exploratory and emotional.'
Notes to editors:
Dundee Degree Show
21st - 29th May 2011 (Preview May 20th)
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
University of Dundee
13 Perth Road
Dundee DD1 4HT
T 01382 385330
E exhibitions@dundee.ac.uk
www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad/degreeshow
Exhibition open:
Saturday, May 21st (10am-4pm)
Sunday, May 22nd (10am-4pm)
Monday, May 23rd (10am-8pm)
Tuesday, May 24th (10am-8pm)
Wednesday, May 25th (10am-8pm)
Thursday, May 26th (10am-8pm)
Friday, May 27th (10am-8pm)
Saturday, May 28th (10am-4pm)
Sunday, May 29th (10am-4pm)
Graduate work on display:
Animation
Art, Philosophy, Contemporary Practices
Digital Interaction Design
Fine Art
Graphic Design
Illustration
Interior Environmental Design
Jewellery & Metal Design
Product Design
Textile Design
Time Based Art & Digital Film
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
