Sound design has always fascinated me. From my professional years as a sound designer, I remember the magical feeling of being able to give form to sounds, this seemingly intangible medium, and experiencing its immediate effect on me, both mentally and physically. For me, sound design equaled to working directly with sounds: Sketching with sounds, vocalizations, role-playing with sounds, and Foley artist tricks were part of my routine as a sound designer that helped me improve the acoustical quality of the sound itself. However, over the years the more I studied about the theories of product experience, human behavior, and mental processes, the more I have come to realize that there is more to designing sounds, especially sounds that belong to everyday products or everyday contexts. Everyday sounds and sound sources are always part of an episode in which people, other artifacts, a certain location or time interact with each other, and experiences of which are all blended. One cannot separate sounds from their ecological occurrence and its relevance to other daily activities. When designing sounds of everyday objects, it is equally important (and exciting!) to consider the context in which sounds are designed for and how users interact with their environment through sounds. Today, the whole world is fascinating to me with its inhabitants, environments, and artifacts, because that is where I find inspiration for sound design. In my talk, with commercial projects and current research activities, I will demonstrate how we design sounds for everyday interactions at Delft University of Technology. Some examples include the projects for Toyota Motors Europe, European Space Agency, and Erasmus University Medical Center.

Le projet SkAT-VG : journée de clôture

Rendez-vous du design sonore. Journée de clôture du projet européen SkAT-VG. Le croquis, l'esquisse, sont à l'origine de toute activité de conception graphique, en design et en architecture. Le projet européen SkAT-VG a pour objectif d'élaborer des outils et méthodes pour la conception sonore, permettant aux designers sonores d'utiliser leur voix et leurs gestes pour esquisser les premières idées concernant le son d'un objet ou d'un lieu. À l'issue de trois ans de collaboration entre trois instituts de recherche, IUAV à Venise, KTH à Stockholm, Ircam à Paris, et l'entreprise Genesis à Aix-en-Provence, la journée de clôture présentera les résultats scientifiques du projet concernant, d'une part, la production et la perception des imitations vocales et gestuelles, et, d'autre part, la reconnaissance et l'analyse automatiques de ces imitations vocales et gestuelles. Des démonstrations des outils et des méthodes d'esquisse sonore développés au cours du projet viendront compléter les présentations scientifiques.