Audio Mapping

Busking the map

Beth — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:11:28 -0500

In our quest to find buskers to test and map spaces in Durham's Necklace Park, my mate Rachel and I stumbled across an open mic session in the Hog's Head pub in Saddler St.

It was great to see a Tuesday night crowded out with some of the City's young musicians giving heart and soul to the regulars!

I would like to thank Alex, James, Mark, Simon, Dave, Ian and Andrew and all those performers we didnt manage to chat to!

Fingers X we might see you at the Mapping event!

Audio Mapping

Feeling our way around!

Beth — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:21:09 -0500

On the 16th March, Derek with Donald the dog, Ed, Enid and Calvin from the Durham Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted navigated a section of the Durham Necklace Park. It was the first opportunity for them to try a section and explore it from the perspective of a blind person and how accessible and how infomation could make it more accessible.

The group tried out how easy it was with a guide dog and a long white stick. Apart from a few pot holes along Frankland Lane and the very cold weather, it went very well!

This was my first experience of being a lead for Calvin who is totally blind and is learning to use a long cane. It was facinating and I learnt alot from the group and should be something every sighted person should try!

Their next step is to explore other locations in the Park prior to the Mapping event in which to develop the mapping idea!

Audio Mapping

geo-tagging with sound

frank-the-lip — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:17:10 -0600

create a participatory sound map of necklace park which can be done with the most lo-tec of recording devices like your mobile phone or a mini-disc player. you can record absolutely anything that takes your interest and/or you feel is representative of the location the sound is recorded. it could be a conversation overheard at a bus stop, an interaction with a market trader, a dog barking or your footsteps on a particular path.
the sound-tags get uploaded onto a map and can be listened to by clicking your mouse on a specific location on the map.
for an example of how this works go to:
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/geotagsView.php#

Audio Mapping

Image to sound software

Beth — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:31:44 -0600

There is a little piece of software that converts images into sound that aims to describe an image to blind people! I have attached an example of the Necklace Park that has been converted, it is a bit 'alien' to listen to but interesting experiment!

Audio Mapping

Every Excursion Needs A Soundtrack. What's Yours?

david-le-mud — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 19:37:34 -0600

You know how it is. Out & about with your tunes, one of which is your perfect soundtrack for some activity, whether it's gliding through the arcade at Millburngate or trail surfing under the Elvet. So here's the challenge: You're somewhere in the Necklace Park; you're doing a particular thing, running or walking, maybe with a camera, a book, your bike. Now: what melody is going through your head?

Come back here and tell us what, where, when. Can we make an audio map of the Necklace Park?

Or the other way round. Can we make a journey that involves going to a particular place and listening, then describing what we've heard? What do you hear when you put your ear next to the stones around the marketplace?

Audio Mapping

Navigating the Park with sound

Beth — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 06:49:20 -0600

For many people visiting The Durham Necklace Park, walking around and experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the riverside will hopefully be a pleasurable experience. But what if you lose one of those senses; can you still have the same pleasurable experience?

Recently I have been talking to the Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted in Durham to gain an understanding of the difficulties of navigating around the City, especially along the riverside. How can local people and visitors to Durham enjoy a visually beautiful city? The Durham Necklace Park cannot 'tick it's tick box' by placing Braille signs everywhere, as one it is not practical and two only 1% of people who have a sight disability can read it!

While meeting with the group, we talked about better ways that could translate the Park and map it in a format that would be appropriate for the majority of those with a sight disability. Some areas are easy to roam with tarmac surfaces but other areas can be opened up with audio descriptions and developing awareness to sections of the site.

One of the conclusions we came to was that there is not many examples in the UK that truly explored ways of interpreting a site such as the Durham Necklace Park in terms for those who are blind or partially sighted people.

Inspired by this, a group of guide dog and stick users aim to do a series of exploratory sessions in the Park and assess the possibilities! Updates to follow!

Audio Mapping