sound installation

Background and Objectives: Architectural spaces are often designed with a strong visual focus, yet their sonic potential remains underexplored. Inspired by the concept of “breathing” that symbolizes life, movement, and vitality, the research project Prana aimed to create a responsive sound installation that enhances the sonic environment in architectural spaces by utilizing efficient wireless communication, sensors, and algorithms, which can evoke the feeling of breathing life into a space, providing visitors with a novel and engaging sensory experience. The designed system offered flexibility for placement and adaptation across various locations. Conducted within the tunnel of Wat Umong in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the exhibition was presented to the public, and the author collected data from visitors for the evaluation. This project serves as an example of how interactive sound design can revitalize architectural environments by creating a dialogue between sound, space, and audience. Methods: The study adopts both research-led and practice-led approaches, examining the interplay between technical design and aesthetic expression. The author collected ideas and designed the technical process of developing interactive sound installation, environmental sound design, multi-channel sound system, and wireless communication to develop the installation. The process of developing and installing the work was closely documented, while visitor experiences were assessed through direct observation and questionnaires during the exhibition period for the evaluation. The collected data was analyzed and presented as results in two aspects, sound design and system design. Results: The sound installation utilized microcontrollers (Arduino) and radio transceivers to process signals from two selected sensors (photoelectric sensor and electric gyroscope) encapsulated in small bells as triggers for algorithmically projecting prepared sounds through a multichannel sound system. The electric gyroscope has been proven to be more effective in representing the movement of the bell in the form of digital data. The collected data from the exhibition reveals that a coherent relationship between sound installation, spatial context, and environmental soundscape forms a vital foundation for innovative sound design. Audience responses emphasized that engagement and satisfaction largely depend on the immersive and experiential qualities of the work, highlighting the significance of site-responsive experimentation and clear design intentions. Conclusions: The Prana project demonstrates how interactive sound design can meaningfully enrich architectural environments by integrating technology, spatial awareness, and aesthetic intention. The findings show that when sound, space, and audience interaction are thoughtfully aligned, architectural settings can be transformed into dynamic, sensory experiences that evoke vitality and presence, much like the metaphor of breathing that inspired the work. Technically, the use of microcontrollers, wireless communication, and motion-based sensing proved effective in creating a flexible and responsive sonic system, with the electric gyroscope offering particularly reliable data for movement-triggered sound generation in this project. Audience feedback confirmed that the success of such installations depends not only on technological capability but also on the experiential coherence and immersion they create. This highlights the importance of site-specific testing, deliberate sound selection, and a clear conceptual foundation. Ultimately, the project offers a practical and artistic framework for future interactive sound installations, highlighting how responsive technologies can animate architectural spaces and foster deeper engagement through sound. Furthermore, developing simple and user-friendly interfaces can extend the accessibility of interactive sound installations.

Abstract This article examines how intermedial electroacoustic audiovisual practice can treat perception as artistic material. It proposes Perceptual Translation as an artistic and analytical strategy that extends intermedial concepts beyond formal media relations by reorganising perceptual relations between sound, vision, body, space and technological mediation. The framework is described through four pragmatic strategies: Perspective Shifters, Perceptual Extenders, Perceptual Mimesis and Perceptual Rearrangers. These strategies are developed through Your Localisation Exposed , a wearable sound installation that inverts auditory spatial cues in real time, placing sound and vision into sustained perceptual contradiction. This is complemented by Your Hearing Them , which extends Perceptual Translation into an interpersonal auditory context through the sharing of an embodied listening perspective. Together, these works demonstrate how Perceptual Translation can operate as both an analytical and generative framework for electroacoustic audiovisual practice. By reframing intermediality at the perceptual level, this article argues for expanded approaches to audiovisual composition that engage perception itself as a compositional and conceptual resource.

این مقاله بررسی می‌کند که چگونه عمل بین‌رسانه‌ای الکترواکوستیک تصویری می‌تواند ادراک را به‌عنوان ماده‌ای هنری مورد استفاده قرار دهد. در این مقاله، «ترجمه ادراکی» به‌عنوان راهبردی هنری و تحلیلی پیشنهاد می‌شود که مفاهیم بین‌رسانه‌ای را فراتر از روابط صوری رسانه‌ها، از طریق سازمان‌دهی مجدد روابط ادراکی میان صدا، بینایی، بدن، فضا و میانجی‌گری فناورانه گسترش می‌دهد. این چارچوب از طریق چهار راهبرد عملی توصیف می‌شود: تغییر‌دهندگان دیدگاه، گسترش‌دهندگان ادراکی، تقلید ادراکی و بازآرایندگان ادراکی. این راهبردها از طریق اثر «Your Localisation Exposed»، یک نصب صوتی پوشیدنی که نشانه‌های فضایی شنیداری را در زمان واقعی معکوس می‌کند و صدا و تصویر را در تضاد ادراکی پایدار قرار می‌دهد، توسعه یافته‌اند. این موضوع با اثر «Your Hearing Them» تکمیل می‌شود که ترجمه ادراکی را از طریق به‌اشتراک‌گذاری چشم‌انداز شنیداری مجسم، به زمینه شنیداری میان‌فردی گسترش می‌دهد. این آثار نشان می‌دهند که ترجمه ادراکی چگونه می‌تواند به‌عنوان چارچوبی تحلیلی و مولد برای عمل الکترواکوستیک تصویری عمل کند. این مقاله با بازتعریف بین‌رسانه‌ای بودن در سطح ادراکی، بر رویکردهای گسترش‌یافته به آهنگ‌سازی تصویری-شنیداری که خود ادراک را به‌عنوان منبعی ترکیبی و مفهومی به کار می‌گیرند، تأکید می‌کند.