I-Corps: Natural Sounds and Audio Digital Network

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供一种手段，向美国3000多个科学、技术和自然中心提供高度原创的自然声音录音，这些中心正在为他们的展览空间提供声音。展览空间现在正在迅速电子化和互动性，它们需要视听材料。音频聚焦扬声器技术的进步使得将声音集中在一个小空间内供个人或小组体验成为可能，触摸屏现在正在公共场所出现。我们的客户发现活动将决定自然景观展览如何满足这个非常大的非正式STEM学习社区的需求，因为他们已经数字化了。这些产品将1)为人们提供自然环境的延伸，2)使用触觉方法向视障人士介绍STEM概念，3)在营地/教室的课程中使用科学标准，使用真实的科学设备，4)建立有关生物多样性和栖息地保护等概念的知识，以及4)影响人们介绍STEM概念的方式。这些产品有可能从代表性不足的社区招募个人加入STEM。这个I-Corps项目将对自然展览产品的市场规模和商业潜力产生重大影响。这个音频集代表了全球实地考察的高潮，在50多个陆地和海洋研究地点，代表了12个主要生物群落中的9个。目前，来自几乎所有主要陆地和海洋生物群落的500多万份自然录音资料，以及为研究生物多样性、野火、入侵物种、过度放牧、有毒物质和气候变化等重要环境问题而进行的科学研究项目的丰富信息。这些音频文件和科学项目被组织成学习模块，这些模块具有互动性、知识性和启发性，形成了一套灵活的工具来构建数字展览。交互式信息亭已在几个非正式学习场所开发和测试，取得了相当大的成功。最后，非正式学习课程和来自婆罗洲、蒙古、巴塔哥尼亚和坦桑尼亚的完整研究的结果已在广泛的同行评议期刊上发表，这为声音在自然界中发挥的作用的科学解释提供了有效性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide a means to deliver highly original natural sounds recordings to over 3000 science, technology and nature centers in the United States that are moving to sonify their exhibit spaces. Exhibit spaces are now rapidly becoming electronic and interactive and they require audiovisual materials. The advances in audio focusing speaker technologies are making it possible to concentrate sound into a small space for single or small group experiences and touchscreens are now emerging in public spaces. Our customer discovery activities will determine how a nature ounds exhibit can serve the needs of this very large informal STEM learning community as they become digital. The products will 1) provide an extension of a natural setting in an accessible space for people, 2) introduce visually impaired people to STEM concepts using tactile methods, 3) utilize science standards in curriculum for camps/classrooms with authentic scientific equipment, 4) build knowledge about concepts such as biodiversity and preservation of habitats, and 4) impact how people are introduced to STEM concepts. These products have the potential to recruit individuals from an underrepresented community to STEM.This I-Corps project will lead to significant understanding of market size and commercial potential for nature exhibit products. This audio collection represents the culmination of global fieldwork at over 50 terrestrial and marine study sites representing nine of the twelve major biomes. Over 5,000,000 natural sound recordings from nearly every major terrestrial and marine biome are now available along with rich information on scientific research projects being conducted to study important environmental issues such as biodiversity, wildfire, invasive species, over grazing, toxic substances and climate variability. These audio files and scientific projects have been organized into learning modules that are interactive, informative and inspiring forming a flexible set of tools for building digital exhibits. Interactive kiosks have been developed and tested in several informal learning venues with considerable success. Finally, the outcome from the informal learning curriculum and complete studies from Borneo, Mongolia, Patagonia, and Tanzania, have been published in a wide range of peer-review journals which provides the validity to the scientific interpretation of the role that sounds play in nature.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.