Frauke Behrendt

Mobile music technology: report on an emerging community

The new field of mobile music emerges at the intersection of ubiquitous computing, portable audio technology and NIME. We have held a series of international workshop on this topic with leading projects and speakers, in order to establish a community and stimulate the development of the field. In this report, we define mobile music, and map out the field by reporting on the workshop series and accounting for the state-of-the-art.

Sonic interaction design: sound, information and experience

Sonic Interaction Design (SID) is an emerging field that is positioned at the intersection of auditory display, ubiquitous computing, interaction design, and interactive arts. SID can be used to describe practice and inquiry into any of various roles that sound may play in the interaction loop between users and artifacts, services, or environments, in applications that range from the critical functionality of an alarm, to the artistic significance of a musical creation. This field is devoted to the privileged role the auditory channel can assume in exploiting the convergence of computing, communication, and interactive technologies. An over-emphasis on visual displays has constrained the development of interactive systems that are capable of making more appropriate use of the auditory modality. Today the ubiquity of computing and communication resources allows us to think about sounds in a proactive way. This workshop puts a spotlight on such issues in the context of the emerging domain of SID.

The sound of locative media

This article develops an alternative perspective to the visual bias in locative media discourses by focusing on the role of sound in locative media and related discussions. This sonic perspective allows us to understand the temporal, situated and embodied aspects of locative media. Informed by debates from sound studies and mobile media studies, a locative smart phone application where users experience specific sounds depending on their locations, is discussed. The concept of ‘Placed Sounds’ is introduced for a more detailed analysis of locative sound experiences. A framework for analysis is developed to discuss how locative sound engages with the auditory aspects of our spatial perception, how immersion operates for locative media and sound, and also to consider the role of situated experience, the role of walking as remixing, and how agency and exclusion operate in locative sound. This framework explains how walking operates in terms of interacting with locative media, and how we experience being immersed in physical and media contexts at once via sound.

Why cycling matters for electric mobility: towards diverse, active and sustainable e-mobilities

Abstract This paper proposes the concept of e-velomobility. E-velomobility covers practices, systems and technologies of electrically-assisted cycling where velomobility’s pedal-power combines with e-mobility’s battery/motor assistance to propel the rider. The concept draws on research and policies around e-mobility, velomobility and e-bikes. Results of an analysis of qualitative material from a UK trial of e-bikes illustrate how e-velomobility is experienced. The empirical material and the conceptual approach show e-velomobility as a distinct and important form of mobility with implications for research agendas and e-mobility policy. E-velomobility and the more diverse understanding of e-mobility suggested in this paper could support a shift of strategies and policies towards more active and sustainable as well as less expensive modes of e-mobility than the current focus on electric cars.