Choosing a site

Each site has a specific geomorphology and a genius loci, a unique spirit. Gardens are places that connect us to nature, that we cultivate a relationship with. They bring us close to life, plants, and animals. They bring us close to ourselves. This is the case of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a garden populated by thousands of species and a beloved public space in the pulsing heart of our city.

No fixed paths

Walking improves your mental and physical health, gives us time to think. It is about “how the body measures itself against the earth” as Rebecca Solnit describes it. Rather than creating a guided tour with defined paths, we tried to invite users to drift, to use sound to get lost and yet discover things that are specific to the place where they are. This use of navigation technology is meant to be exploratory rather than efficient.

Mapping space and time

Repeated walks, research, auditory and photographic exploration at different times of the day helped us map the place. Much of the design effort has to be dedicated to situate the experience in space. To make it site-specific. Although overall the sonic walk relies more on hearing than on visual cues, it is essential to define boundaries, precisely map locations, identify landmarks, routes and time them. Duration and location are central to the design of this experience.

Customisation

The digital interface offers variability and multiplicity. It can change with user selection or change over time. We offered options for users to customise sounds based on their mood, inviting them to repeat the sonic walk experience with slight variations each time. Other possible permutations include content that might differ by time of day, month or season.

Onsite/Offsite

We wanted users to also be able to access this experience from home, on a bus ride, or anywhere else in the world. How should this be similar or different from the onsite experience? We wireframed parallel paths for both conditions, modifying the app architecture to anticipate user movement through both space and app. The offsite experience extends the sonic walk to function as a music or podcast streaming playlist.

Visual design

Beyond usability, a good interface should be a delight to use. Its design should be unique to its content. The visual design for Sonic Walks: Relak is elegant and minimal, to complement the restful quality of the audio tracks. Online tools such as Mapbox allow us to style GPS maps in the same colours or fonts to match the overall visual identity.

Geolocation

The process involves repeated site visits to trace coordinates and identify landmarks. We relied on a mix of existing tools such as Google Maps and custom-built digital tools to map the space. While specific locations are easily-defined, an understanding of radius, areas and distances are more difficult to capture.

Managing sound

To build a complex sonic experience with multiple soundtracks, we developed a vocabulary and library of techniques to facilitate collaboration between sound design and computer programming. It involved managing volumes, fading sounds, the blending or mixing of one sound into another.

Testing

Preliminary mock-ups allowed us to test offsite, experimenting with different sound effects and the logic of how the sound reacts to the user. As with any other interactive experience, testing with different users and different devices is essential.

Healing frequencies

Traditional chanting and music from many Asian cultures use certain frequencies to attain spiritual transformation, calm the soul and even heal the body. The type of frequencies used in this sonic experience have strong healing powers and were generated after a process of researching various well-being sonic techniques.

Screen-free

Sound is digitally augmented and used as the main channel used for conveying information, meaning, aesthetic and emotional quality. The extended amounts of time spent looking at screens causes eye fatigue as well as mental and psychological tiredness. This sonic experience encourages a more direct engagement with the physical environment, it is open and yet immersive, it provides rest from screen fatigue.

Layering sound textures

While walking, one can interact with sound, hear different sonic textures merging and dissolving, getting closer and fading into silence. This layered way of designing sound uses a combination of drones, natural field recordings, voices, and synthetised sounds in a polyphonic way. At the same time it feels natural and fluid, more life-like.

Non-linear narratives

As the sequence of sounds is directed by users’ movements in an open space, the narrative is more difficult to control. We can use the ‘incomplete’ or episodic narrative to an advantage, by creating mystery and suspense, allowing audience to speculate. This needs to be complemented with instructional scriptwriting, but a fine balance need to be struck, between providing directions and the central sonic experience.

Poetry

Integrating poetry allows us to focus on mood, emotion and beauty, rather than plot. The script reflects the site-specificity of the walk, sometimes asking the user to engage with the external world, to “stop for a minute, observe…”.

Spoken voices

Most people “hear” their thoughts, or have an “inner voice”. Sound is emotional and intimate. Different voices – young, old, high-pitched, low-pitched, male, female – all have different qualities. It can dramatically change the mood and tone of a piece of written text.

Reaching audiences

It is important to locate the product experience beyond the app itself. By mapping the user journey before and after using the app, we can identify opportunities for audiences to find out about it.

Sustaining interest

Project timelines should include pre-launch, launch and post-launch. Complement the app with supporting activities such as guided walks, behind-the-scenes tours, exclusive content, or workshops that engage other senses.

Measuring reach

Mobile app analytics can provide data about how users listen, but it is also crucial to determine what stakeholders want to measure. If the goal of Sonic Walks: Relak is to raise the quality of life, or foster a sense of connection with the city, perhaps consider alternative ways to assess enjoyment, imagination and pleasure.