Good Vibrations

For the next three years, the Positive Soundscapes Project, funded by the British government’s EPSRC, will be conducting an unprecedented, expansive study into environmental sound. For the first time, disciplines including social science, sound art, acoustic energy, and psychoacoustics will all be integrated to try to form a complex understanding of sound, and how people living within environments are affected by it.

Previous studies have not included such a wide array of disciplines and have usually focused on the negative aspects of sound, such as the effects of noise. But the Positive Soundscapes Project seeks to better understand the relationships between positive sound environments and the people living within them. The project is also unique for its public engagement and participation aspects, inviting people to participate in art-project experiments. The team behind the study hopes that the results will help urban planners, radio programmers, and sonic artists alike.