type
Site-specific experience
year
2021–2022
note
Bachelor thesis project
concept
ARIA is a site-specific experience designed for connecting visitors with the natural space of the Parco di Montececeri in Fiesole, through an augmented reality soundwalk.
The name stands for Augmented Reality Immersive Audio. In Italian, "aria" means air — the most common medium through which sound propagates — and can also evoke the idea of being in the open air, immersed in a natural environment.
Through the use of bone conduction headphones it is possible to have an individual augmented reality listening experience, combining the soundscape and the virtual acoustic environment in a way that does not interfere with the ambient sound, and so is not disruptive to the local fauna.
description
The work is site-specific for the Montececeri natural park in Fiesole, a small city in the Florence urban area located on a mountain close to the city centre.
The visitor is given the possibility to listen, during their itinerary inside the park, to 8 tracks each associated with a specific location, using a smartphone and a pair of bone conduction headphones. This technology allows the ears to be free to listen to both the sound content and the original soundscape at the same time, providing an augmented reality listening experience.
The tracks were composed according to the spectral characteristics of the original soundscape, so that the resulting composition could be perceived as integrated with the sound environment.
With a smartphone app the visitors' position is tracked and when they arrive in the proximity of a soundmark during the walk, the corresponding track starts automatically after a sound signal that invites them to stop and listen. On the app it is also possible to view the map and read information about the history of the park.
