Developing Novel Technological Approaches to Presenting Interactive, Immersive Sound Environments in the Context of Museum, Gallery, and Interpretive Centre Exhibits

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Traditionally, museums, galleries, and interpretive centres have under-utilized sound as a medium for enhancing the educational experience because there is a tendency for sounds from multiple sources to clash with one another when presented simultaneously. This is unfortunate, since sound and music have valuable interpretive and affective capabilities that could be used to enhance and add depth to the experience. Our research will involve the design of a system that will allow patrons of a museum, gallery, or interpretive centre to experience immersive, interactive sound environments, possessing multiple sound sources and locations where interaction is encouraged. Our innovation is to control all sounds within an exhibit from a central software system that will dynamically restructure the sound and music produced so that all sound sources contribute to a harmonious, sonically compelling environment, rather than the clamour of different sound sources one would normally experience from independently implemented sound sources. The result will be that, through the development of this system, sound and music may become a new resource for use in engaging museum, gallery, and interpretive centre patrons. The industry partner, Twisted Pair Productions, has a proven track record of producing installations for museums, science centres, and other institutions; they recognize that sound is under-utilized in these contexts and see this partnership as a means of adding a hitherto-unavailable sonic dimension to their installation designs.