Applications - Soundscape Ecology: Principles, Patterns, Methods and Applications - page 286

park. In some cases, as when we are engaged in talking, most sounds such as the
ring of a mobile telephone could be considered temporarily distasteful.
All these sounds can be pleasant or unpleasant with positive and negative effects
according to the different categories of visitors (residents, tourists, young, aged,
rich, poor, with different cultural background, etc.), and sound remains a mysteri-
ous matter because it is appreciated so differently by people. Furthermore there are
differences in which a dweller evaluates the soundscape outdoors with respect to
the indoor sonic environment.
Describing a soundscape is not an easy task. In fact, a sonic environment should
be a match between expected sounds with less expected sounds. The expected
sounds are the result of the context that a person expects according to the different
signals in which he moves aside from other semiotic indicators. A high-quality
soundscape should have several distinct and expected sounds. Sounds become the
semiotic interface between the subject and the environment where sonic signals are
both physical and personal. Physical signals are loudness, spectral, temporal, and
information content of the sound, and visual aspects are movements of subjects, the
landscape architecture, lighting, people's activity, temperature and humidity, and
olfactory issues. The personal factors are related to personal traits (noise sensitivity,
attitude to perceive other sources of information, the current activity of the subject,
emotional status, personal goals, etc.).
Noise control engineering may have a negative impact on sonic environment:
not all sounds are perceived as noise. Several sounds in a urban context represent
landmarks and prevent people from feeling too extraneous to giant buildings and a
huge plaza. Planning pleasant sonic space is important to our everyday life.
10.17 Sonification
Sonification is defined according Kramer et al. ( 1999 ) as “the use of nonspeech
audio to convey information.” “Sonification is the transformation of data relations
into perceived relations in an acoustic signal for the purposes of facilitating
communication or interpretation.” This acoustic approach represents an important
component of our communication network and in general presents a nonsecondary
impact on the indoor and outdoor soundscape.
Sonification is a field of research that includes the psychological research in
perception and cognition, the development of sonification, tools and sonification
design and application.
Sonification becomes a germane discipline inside the constellation of acoustic/
sonic disciplines that can be grouped for their impact on the environment into the
domain of soundscape ecology.
Examples of sonification are Geiger counters, sonar, auditory thermometers, and
medical and cockpit auditory displays. The possibility offered by sonification
includes the analysis of complex data sets such as seismic traces.