Interaction with Fictitious Futuristic Soundscapes for the Hearing Impaired : A Museum Experience
Abstract: Hearing impairments are a sensitive component of our society. Lots of people are affected by them and considering this aspect in imagining and designing how the future will sound like is important. In this research project, a suggestion on a soundscape design tool to be used and manipulated by people affected by hearing disabilities is proposed. Together with this, it will be described as well how to implement and define a user interface with the scope of managing and manipulating these soundscapes. This project also faces the task of creating a setup oriented towards a museum setting: this carries with itself several variables to be kept in account, such as an unpredictable and quite broad users' range, and a special consideration for the lower-age range users. These have been found to be the most attending the museum environment, as far as it concerns Tekniska Museet. A three-phase experiment was then carried out. It involved a class of hearing-impaired pre-teenagers, the visitors of Tekniska and other hearing-impaired testers. Both qualitative and quantitative data about the interaction with the interface and the perceptual experience with the soundscapes were collected. The final assessments are that a focus on a playful aspect and the simplicity of shapes was the key for a suitable interface design focused on children, and that the contribution of the hearing impaired is relevant, at least in the later stage of the soundscape design process.
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