Artefact, Participant and Interaction in Auditory Experiences

Abstract

The act of sound perception and its subjective dimensions, from physical to psychoacoustics, from semantic to affective, carry an inherent challenge for the conception and evaluation of every audio-based artefact. Starting from a previous framework of evaluation approaches, we seek to deconstruct the configuring elements of these processes, searching for theoretical foundations informing Sound Design and possible applications for Auditory Displays. This work is a first step into identifying a body of knowledge on the listener’s experience, how the act of listening takes place and how the sequence of listening actions can evolve as forms of dialogue, creating dialogical spaces for making sense of auditory information. With this work, practitioners can gain new insights into how existing techniques for creating auditory artefacts can be configured and transformed into new, alternative approaches.