6:21 min
An Introduction to Audio Walks
- A Brief History of Audio Walks
- An Array of Audio Walk Apps out there
- Locative – what does this mean?
- Places and stories around us
0:12 Hi there, I’m Robin Cook, thank you for joining us at the, SoundTrails Academy. Our module’s all about building audio walks and we’ll be using the SoundTrails platform to learn, experiment and create.
0:28 Creating audio walks is a lot of fun and just like writing a book or producing a film, building an engaging SoundTrail has its own set of conventions.
0:40 We’ll provide step-by-step building blocks for creating your own audio walk. From how to plan an audio walk, how to use the SoundTrail.
0:49 How to source content and the importance of release forms. So whether you’re a professional audio engineer or a student starting out, there’s a lot to unpack in here.
1:06 First, let’s look at a brief history of locative media, from real life guided tours to audio augmented reality. Real life guided tours have been around for a long time.
1:21 Someone with that inside knowledge of a town, its history and its people, guides groups through places of interest. This is a very warm and popular approach to an audio walk, but the only trouble is, it’s very weather dependent.
1:37 And not everyone can attend at the allocated times, and it’s fairly resource hungry. No guide, no tour. Another approach to an audio walk can be using QR codes, like here at the Australian Museum.
1:56 You use your mobile to read a QR code, and you listen to the information given. COVID made QR codes ubiquitous, of course, so it’s a really effective way of giving us information about any one exhibit.
2:10 But it can be a bit of a fragmented experience, since you need to stop and start at every exhibit. Another approach is to offer a downloadable audio file, like this beautiful audio wall.
2:33 You can download the audio file, which also gives you directions about where to walk. And what you hear and what you see works together.
2:46 The only trouble is if you happen to be a fast walker or a slow walker, Or if you take a wrong turn, then what you’re hearing and what you’re seeing won’t necessarily correspond.
3:00 Now let’s have a look at some examples of more audio walks. These are systems that play audio according to your GPS location.
3:10 So they are, voice maps, sonic maps, and echoes, and so many more. This is the, platform that we use in this training, which is SoundTrails.
3:35 All of these platforms have their different strengths and weaknesses. These platforms offer experiences that are often called, Locative Experience or AudioAR, meaning Audio Augmented Reality.
3:54 So just to be clear, we’re not talking VR or Virtual Reality. This is not a simulation and you’re not hooked up to a computer wearing goggles.
4:03 You’re free to walk, you can see where you’re going and what you’re doing, which enhances the audio story that you’re experiencing.
4:11 So what you’re hearing is highly relational to the physical world. And why is that? Well, because, Because as we’re walking, our phones are tracking us using GPS.
4:23 GPS, of course, is all about your position in the world. Your latitude and longitude. There’s now this amazing opportunity for creative story to, ,telling, mapped, as we say here in Australia, on country.
4:40 So we’re augmenting the world around us through stories, sounds and voices on location. And we believe that the opportunity and the power, ,to augment reality also comes with great responsibility.
4:56 To step lightly, respect spaces, ,respect other people’s creative works and behave in an ethical way. We’ll cover more about this in a later video.
5:11 On the one hand, there’s the real or physical world and on the other hand there are voices, sounds and stories that can draw us in on so many levels.
5:21 Think about the parks, the trees,, ,the rivers, old laneways and the opportunities that they present to draw us in and spark our curiosity.
5:32 That old building that we’ve walked past a thousand times, what sort of voices, sounds or stories? Could be worked in and how might they be framed?
5:44 You could give information about what you see, you could provide historical context or it could be highly imaginative and very playful.
5:56 It’s partly up to you. Have a think about whether it’s the laneways or the rivers, the bridges, the old buildings.
6:04 What might these places sound like and whose voices might we hear? So, In closing with Module 1, I’d like to invite you to contemplate.
6:17 What places would make for a good soundtrack and why? Consider access to sight and the possible dangers. Places for sitting and listening.6:28 Places for walking and listening. The route of a possible walk. And what voices might we hear? If you’re working a group, this is a great opportunity to get together and chat about it.
6:42 And so that’s the end of Module 1. Thank you. Thank you very much.
What places would make for a good Soundtrail and why?
Consider:
- Access to the site & possible dangers
- Places for sitting & listening Places for walking and listening
- The route of a possible walk
- Voices that might be heard
If you are working in a group, maybe have a chat together about it.
other Modules:
