The End of Hearing: feedback #3

I have processed all the collected feedback (64 forms in total) and this is what it looks like after quantifying, summing up and distributing all the data:



Initial feedback conclusions:

1] we believe that future can be shaped and that design can help us do this;

2] we value hearing and think that we can adapt to future soundscapes;

3] we are undecided about the role that noise plays in our lives.

More specific conclusions should be published soon.

The End of Hearing: feedback #2

I collected 65 "Hearing Trade-off" test questionnaires in total. This is what I expected to have in the end of the Rochelle Experiment. So what will I do with all this now?



There are some aspects of the "Hearing Trade-off" test, which will determine the way I will need to treat the results, and which also became apparent already while conducting the experiment. One such problem is the fact that the test was semi-open (or maybe semi-closed) and that the answers may thus not direct anywhere explicitly. I need admit here that collaborating with a sociologist, statistician or any survey specialist in the future may be my lesson here. Nevertheless, I will try to put together and interpret the findings I managed to collected.

Whether I will be able to write comprehensible recommendations for the scientific and design professional communities is one thing. Another one is that the show in the Rochelle School was a great success! I managed to capture peoples' attention, inspire their imagination and make them think. Therefore, I have proved that it is possible to communicate science fiction based on scientific evidence to the public. It is also possible to engage people in a conversation focused around rather complex topics. Finally, it is now certain that people want to engage in the discussion about our future—there is hunger for communicating, explaining and democratising science. And science fiction proved to be a great tool of this purpose.

Above: an attempt at juxtaposing all collected "Hearing Trade-off" tests in one image. As this method of quantitative evaluation might have worked well for the first survey, this time I will probably need to employ different, maybe more traditional methods...

The End of Hearing: feedback #1

I am currently conducting the Rochelle Experiment—a feedback session in the CSM MACD final show.

After explaining my scenarios to the audience, I am giving out a questionnaire with a variety of semi-open questions. I am aiming at collecting 60 feedbacks and presenting it in the CS'11 conference in Nottingham in July this year.

future of soundscapes: experiment #1a

A quick update to the previous post...
What if we connected single sentences with lines, so we can track the meaning of each of the expressions? Thus, we'll have results, which would be not only quantitative, but also qualitative—and this is what is necessary here: to name what people believe in, what people think the future will look like, so that I can identify the self-realising prophecy...
any first conclusions? anything more busy around the be exposed to and increase linked to silence?



If this is not clear yet, I hope it becomes more understandable soon.
Now it is just loud thinking... necessary though...

future of soundscapes: experiment #1

My current project, which is also intended to be my graduation project, deals with the future of soundscapes and our abilities to adapt to upcoming changes. I wish to design a series of tool that would help us adapt to the changes in future soundscapes.

Therefore, I need to research into different viable methodologies that would allow me visualise the future.

One of my methods can be called 'a self-realising prophecy' and is based on a thesis that the future will be exactly what we imagine it to be. As a consequence of that, I decided to conduct a survey, questioning people about their beliefs. Reminded by Einstein's famous saying, that the questions one ask shape the answers one get, I decided to keep the survey as open as possible, just slightly directing towards what I need to know. Surprisingly, the majority of all answers was formulated in one spirit.



In the above image you can see all answers overlapped one onto another. There is a most common path that peoples' mind is following and this, according to the theory of 'self-realising prophecy', is what the future will look like.

radio experiment #3

Having done both receiving and transmitting radio signals, I approached a more sophisticated design of a radio receiver with an MK484-1 AM radio integrated circuit, which became the heart of this experiment. I also used an antenna coil with a ferrite rod for tuning, a variable capacitor, a 100k and a 1k ohm resistors, a 0.01 and two 0.1 microfarrad capacitors, and a 1,5V battery. Finally, I also prepared three one-pence coins, which were used to integrate the circuit. To put all these components together I dug out an old Soviet solderer of my grandfather's.



Everything neatly fits into a nice clip-bag and receives 4-5 local AM radio stations.
Shortly after building this receiver I learned that this does not look good in ones hands on any means of transportation in London...

radio experiment #2

Having received a radio signal I wanted to build a transmitter and receive my first radio transmission. I found all necessary instructions at scitoys.com, which is an amazing repository of various interesting experiments that anyone can do using ordinary household rubbish.
Thus, I took on a challenge to build an AM transmitter.

On the contrary to the AM receiver from the radio experiment #1, I needed to use an additional source of power to run the transmitter. I also used some more advanced manufactured components, such as a crystal 3.6864 oscillator and a sound transformer. Last but not least, I needed content for my transmission, distinct enough to be recognised in the overwhelming aether noise and among many faded radio stations.

This is how my AM transmitter looks like.



With an amplified AM receiver and using separate wire antennas, and separate grounds I succeeded in receiving a faded signal. The further from the source of the transmission I moved, the fainter it got, but anyway—I sent it through the wireless, even though it all happened in one room.

Maybe using more power would increase the reception? Maybe the primitive wire antenna was impeding the transmission? Maybe I needed a different oscillator or a better receiver? All this might be solved in next experiments.

radio experiment #1

After coming back from my holidays in Poland and finishing my dissertation, which pushed my interest towards radio communication, I decided to see for myself what radio really is. I decided that my first step would be to build a radio receiver made from really basic parts—most of which one can find in every household. So I used an empty bottle, a crayon, some copper enameled wire, a headphone (which could be an ordinary telephone headset as well), two pieces of copper cables, two wooden clips and a germanium diode, which was the only professional component that I needed.

The outcome of the experiment looks impressive and so does it work. I managed to receive 2-3 radio stations with it depending on the time of day. Most frequently however, I listened to talkSport at 1053 / 1089 AM in east London. Remarkably, the signal is strong enough, that I did not need to use a ferrite rod to improve its quality and legibility. Well done for myself!



Just before taking this photo above, I happened to receive a strange beeping signal from my neighbourhood. It sounded like a coded transmission. I received that with a shortened coil, which is shown in the photo. What could that be???

back to live!

Back to live!
For a shamefully long time I neglected this space. I wish to make up for it now... for myself, to be really exact. So there it is—a strong and solemn resolution to summarise the development of my dissertation titled: Lingua Extraterrestris—lessons in universal communication or the designer’s understanding of CETI in science and fiction, to recapitulate on all the experiments I managed to conduct over autumn, and finally to document the progress of my final project this year.