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the intentionality of the design to pragmatic aspects
of implementation.
In this chapter we contribute to both these
approaches. We will start by addressing some
fundamental questions. Then, we will present
a contribution intended to aid sound design in
the form of a set of design guidelines. These
guidelines are an expression of findings that
we have synthesized from an interdisciplinary
literature review and from an extensive analysis
of media products, particularly computer games.
We brought together research and concepts that
include: acoustic ecology; recent studies on emo-
tion, including the latest findings on neuroscience;
physical phenomena having repercussions on the
psychology and physiology of perception, cogni-
tion, and emotion; and context engineering. We
will present some background to these concepts
and on their prominent relationships to each other.
We will also present a report on an exemplary de-
sign exercise (Alves & Roque, 2009b), following
the method here presented, carried out by a team
of game developers with no prior experience in
sound design for the purposes of demonstrating a
possible practical interpretation of our suggestions.
brings some value-which can be fun, certainly-it
is just disturbing the surrounding sounds. And that
is when the mute button becomes handy.
A sound designer must consider the project
as a whole and ponder how sound will best serve
the overall purposes in harmony with all other
aspects. For that to be possible, it is crucial that
sound designers become involved in the general
design process as soon as it begins. Unless that
happens, the range of possibilities will be severely
curtailed by whatever other decisions have been
taken. This is an issue that is documented regarding
sound designers in movie industry (for example,
Parker, 2003; Peck, 2001).
Emotions
We have already stated the scarce consideration
that sound has so far received in most designed
interactive processes. No less relevant is the fact
that most of the efforts on leveraging sound us-
age have been focused on utilitarian issues. These
include complex data display, event monitoring
and reinforcement of critical messages, applica-
tions for visually impaired people, and interfaces
for eyes-free devices. Of course, these are all
most noble quests, but they do not explore a very
powerful facet of sound, which is its association
to emotions.
Research on emotion was not always popular
although theories can be traced back at least to
Plato and Aristotle. As an area of research, it has
had a low profile for most of the 20th Century and
only recently has it had a resurgence in interest
(Damásio, 2003; Ledoux, 1998; Nettle, 2006)
thanks largely to advances in neuroscience labora-
tory tools. The fact that it is now possible to have an
internal perspective of emotion, rather than deal-
ing with external observations alone, contributes
decisively to a new consideration of emotions. To
start with, it helps to set apart what is science and
what is no more than wishful thinking, allowing
for the credibility of the approaches that right-
fully find support on the emotional plane. Also, it
INtENtIONAL sOUND DEsIGN
It is essential that the exploration of the usage of
sound in some interactive experience does not end
up confused with the mere placing of sounds on
top of things. Designers should not be searching
for excuses to use sound: they should be design-
ing ways in which sound may contribute to the
purpose of the application. To put it another way,
in this context, sound is a means, not an end. It is
not about fitting; it is about profiting.
Failing to understand this enlarges the user's
perception that sound is expendable. And the truth
is the user does not need our help to hear “things”.
The user is not living in a vacuum being already
surrounded by sounds. So, it is probably the case
that, unless the sound coming from the application
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