RESPA: Reshaping Spatial Acoustics
About
RESPA – Reshaping Spatial Acoustics: Embodied Sound in AR Environments contributes to research on embodied sound in technologically enhanced environments by comparing and combining insights from empirical aesthetics (neuro-cognitive and evolutionary), philosophy of technology (postphenomenological mediation), acoustic studies, and psychology of perception. It is a cross-disciplinary project spanning the Departments of Art and Media, Information and Communications Engineering, and Computer Science. Our joint efforts focus on understanding the role of sound in advanced augmented reality (AR) environments, and as part of the project, we will build a demo environment to put these insights into practice.
People
CFP: Workshop 25-26 August 2026 (@Aalto University)
Sound is energy traveling through a medium. Sound is also experienced by humans and other living organisms, and as such, it is a way of transmitting information. In this process of sound becoming a medium in itself, it has an embodied effect on a person’s ability to think, feel, and act in a given environment. The project is based on the idea that it increases “productive awareness” that is needed to navigate and make sense of the world. Moreover, appropriate audio rendering may help to enhance the sense of presence in forthcoming augmented reality (AR) calling systems and help to enjoy and find recreation in other augmented reality applications.
The aim of the workshop is to contribute to research on embodied sound in technologically enhanced environments and foster future collaborations. The invited keynotes are Jens Emil Sloth Grønbæk (Aarhus University) and Tomi Kokkonen (University of Helsinki).
Tue 25th Aug:
10:00 Registration
10:15 Opening (Sanna Lehtinen)
10:30-11:30 Keynote presentation (Tomi Kokkonen): “On Cross-disciplinary Paradigm Formation”
11:30-12:15 Moe Louanjli: “Listening Below the Threshold: Background Noise, Geophones and Hydrophones as Embodied Spatial Media”
12:15-13:45 Lunch
13:45-14:30 Tuomas Virtanen: “Computational Acoustic Scene Analysis for Augmented Hearing”
14:30-15:15 Juan Duarte: “Listening with Weather: What Atmospheric Spatial Audio Can Teach AR Presence”
15:15-16:00 Coffee
16:00-17:00 Konsta Klemetti: “Aural Labyrinth” (Demo)
Stakeholders' event: : https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/reshaping-spatial-acoustics-stakeholder-reception
Wed 26th Aug:
10:00-11:00 Keynote presentation (Jens Emil Sloth Grønbæk): “Blended Realities: Extending Distributed Collaboration with Non-Visual Modalities”
11:00-11:15 Nils Meyer-Kahlen: “The idea behind RESPA”
11:15-12:45 Lunch
12:45-14:45 Lab tours
14:45-15:15 Coffee
15:15-16:15 Discussion
16:15 Closing (Tapio Lokki)