The Soundscape Model

This post is the final post of the first section of Strategies for Art and Technology. For the project we were asked to find a site in Plymouth and then collect data from it, which could then be turned into a model of the site. The steps taken to do this have been shown in the posts below. The link below is to the soundscape of our site which is the model that we have produced using the data that we collected. To hear this file please select the download now link then select open on the dialog box.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/izjyqoznzcz/Idat101-audio.wav
The following is a powerpoint presentation on the key points of the production of this model and what it represents:

The next stage of the module is to use the ideas and data we have collected to make an intervention in the context provided by the site, be it physical or virtual. By constructing the site model and other elements, this gives a basis from which to work on this next project.

Separated data graphs

In order for our site data to be turned into a soundscape the data on the graphs needed to be separated into each of its area components. This allowed the information on the graphs to be read more easily and therefore converted into sound. This post is to show these separated graphs so that you, the reader, can also get a better idea of what the data is showing. Firstly, below is an image showing how the site has been split up into the separate areas which the data is based on:

By separating the site up in this way the data could be collected for each part allowing the frequency of people in the area over time to be studied more specifically. The graph in the previous post shows the data for all of these areas together. However to be able to model the data the information had to be separated back out into the individual squares as above. The graphs that were produced are shown below:

The aim now is to use these graphs to change the data into a soundscape. The peaks and troughs of these graphs will be used to define different elements of the sounds, for example the pitch may be high on a peak then drop to a low pitch in a trough. The general outline of these graphs will also make this easier as more generalised curves can be produced from these to highlight key areas of change. This can then be used to make the soundscape.

Starting the Model

Over the last week me and my site partner have been working on designing and creating a model of our site to represent some of the data that we have accumulated over the term about our site. We discussed a number of different solutions based on the types of data that we had available and decided our key focus was to do with the number of people moving through the site at particular times, as well as possible their flow through the area. We then used our workbooks to come up with some way of presenting this. We both agreed than an animation over time was the kind of model we wanted to produce and so began to design this using our workbooks as inspiration. We eventually came up with an idea inspired by the cubist representation of movement through the area that I drew in my workbook shown in a previous post. We used this to create a simpler outline of the site which was split into 5 rectangles.
We then discussed how we could animate this design and realised we could use our tallied data of the number of people in the site at a particular time to manipulate the rectangles. However we then realised that the data we had would have to be reformatted to match with our design. We therefore shared all the data we had and between us entered the data into a table that formatted the data accordingly. Once the data had been written we then produced a graph of it to give a better and more generalised view of the changes in the number of people over time. The graph is as follows:

However after showing and discussing this approach with our lecturer, we realised that the idea and the data did not really match up with each other very well. Therefore the next step is to reconsider how we could represent this data. We are currently looking for possible ways to change this data into sound which is one way which would be good to display it as well as considering other possibilities.