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make all the difference, namely, deviation from a
predicted outcome. Context has long challenged
engineering and design disciplines.
Emotion: There are many possible levels
to approach and therefore define emotions. In
this text we adopt the cognitive neuroscience
perspective, which explains emotions as body
reactions that include releasing chemicals in brain
and blood. Acknowledging this biological basis
emphasizes how seriously the matter ought to be
taken: It is definitely not something oneself can
decide whether to attend to or not, once exposed
to “competent” stimuli. This perspective also sup-
ports the notion that changes occurring in the body
are accompanied by automatic associations, for
instance, joy makes our cognition tend to speed
up while sadness slows it down.
Entrainment: Entrainment refers to the syn-
chronization of resonant systems. Breath, heart-
beat, and brainwaves are examples of resonant
systems for which entrainment may be explored
as studied in psychoacoustics. There are two
types of entrainment: internal-to-internal and
external-to-internal. Internal-to-internal refers to
entrainment among one person's pulse systems,
namely heart, breath, and brain. For instance,
when heartbeat increases so does breath rate.
External-to-internal has to do with the changing
of internal rhythms through external stimulation,
in our case, through sound. The latter is what al-
lows for entrainment through design; the former
augments the opportunities regarding the system
at which that entrainment is target.
Resonance: Resonance is the phenomenon in
which an object is put into sympathetic vibration
by finding a concordance between its frequency
and an exciting frequency. There are two types
of resonance: natural (also called free), when an
object vibrates as a consequence of being excited
with its own natural frequency; and forced, if
the object has the ability to vibrate to a variety
of external frequencies. The functioning of the
tympanic membrane is an example of the prin-
ciple of forced resonance and, here, the limits of
what can be forced establish the audible range.
The human body is subject to resonance at many
levels, depending on the frequencies to which it
is exposed.
Sound Layers and Semantics: One way to
address the complexity of the components of sound
design is by classifying sound stimuli in layers
according to their semantics. Classifications, as
borrowed from the body of knowledge and prac-
tice in film, might include: dialog, which is the
discourse; music, for setting the emotional tone;
foley, which is the sound of actions; ambience,
comprising the sounds of the environment; and
sound effects, which are the sounds of abstract or
imaginary objects.
Soundscape: Soundscape is a concept that
derives from the field of acoustic ecology and
refers to the sound of an environment heard as
a whole. A soundscape is an ecologically bal-
anced entity where sound mediates relationships
between individuals and the environment. This
holistic consideration puts emphasis on context,
emotion, and interaction between the listener and
the environment.
Soundscape Composition: Acoustic ecol-
ogy supports the notion that a soundscape can
be understood as a composition: like a musical
composition. What is more, soundscapes can be
composed. This inherent sense of harmony and
orchestration is not mere lyricism: for instance,
studies on animal vocalizations, in natural en-
vironments, evidence balance in level, spectra,
and rhythm.
Willing Suspension of Disbelief: The term
comes from the early 19th Century British poet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge who argued that an in-
fusion of reality into the fantastical was required
for readers to accept implausible narratives. It
has since been widely adapted for the study of
computer games and immersive environments.
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