Noise: A love-Hate relationship

NOISE : A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP[MICKEY] SIPPAKORN PONPAYONG
FALL 2018

30 Topics
Initial Inquiry Questions
Initial Topic: Project Introduction
Observational Research
Wheel of Reasoning
Provotype Proposal
Provotype in the Field
Challege Mapping
Soundscape Study
Refined Topic
Next Steps

Rock Climbing and beginners: injury prevention, class clinics, community
Startups and media exposure
Transparency of religious establishments
Transparency of supply chain
Understanding new technology and its application towards real world scenarios
Infrastructure and new technology in the auto industry
Land management in urban spaces
Offsetting gentrification
Technology disruption in society
Dense traffic in urban cities
Verification of online information: fake news
Noise pollution in urban spaces
Counterfeit products
Ethical supply chain
International Trading
New technology and ethics: facial recognition/data tracking
Sports corruption: Doping/internal corruption/money
Efficiency of public transportation
Data protection
The rise of Gen Z
The rise of E-sports
Gun regulation and 3-D printing
Space exploration
Deep sea exploration
Automation and what it means for employment
The future of cryptocurrency
The application of blockchain beyond cryptocurrencies
Integration of indigenous tribes
Intellectual property protection
Efficient criminal punishment and rehabilitation
The 30 topics exercise was a quick generative activity to provoke and find areas of personal interest. The listed topics are in no
particular order and were recorded through multiple sittings. From the 30 topics, I narrowed it down to three choices. First being
the repercussive disruption of technology on society. Second, noise pollution in urban spaces. Third, criminal punishment and
rehabilitation.

Disruption of personal devices and effects on society
In what ways might we investigate social deterioration from misuse of personal devices?
How might we identify the different categories of misuse of personal devices
How might we explore ways to use personal devices in public to minimize social deterioration?
Noise pollution in urban spaces
In what ways can we explore the extent of noise pollution in urban spaces?
In what ways can we explore the effects of noise pollution in relation to mental health?
In what ways can we investigate efficient urban planning to minimize neighbor-to-neighbor noise pollution?
Efficient criminal punishment and rehabilitation
In what ways can we explore improving criminal rehabilitation in relation to the appearance and environment of the punishment space?
In what ways might we identify the deficiency of the current justice system in relation to inmate rehabilitation to society?
In what ways might we explore recivdivism of criminals in relation to prior incarceration?

INITIAL TOPIC : NOISE POLLUTION

Idecided to continue exploring my curiosity within the topic of sound.
For these initial stages of research, I looked specifically at the topic
of NYC’s noise pollution and what it means for New Yorkers.I have
mixed feelings when it comes to New York City’s aural environment.
On one hand, it is messy, busy, loud, and makes you feel restless, on
the other, it is sophisticated, layered, active, and invokes the sense
for creativity. Living in New York City myself, I have experienced both
aspects of the urban noise. Unfortunately, the negative experiences
override the positive. After a year-long battle with construction noise
in the adjacent building, I noticed some changes in my mood, energy,
and mentality.
The construction starts at 8 AM sharp from Monday to Friday. The
building next door is undergoing a complete reconstruction from top
to bottom. Walls are being destructed and remade, holes are being
drilled, and the Cantonese speaking workers in Chinatown are yelling
on the top of their lungs to communicate with each other. Attached,
are recorded Instagram stories that document my conflict with the
construction next door.
THE PERSONAL BATTLE WITH NOISE

New York city just seems to never shut up. Through sec-
ondary research on the topic of noise pollution, New York
City’s noise epidemic is gradually becoming worse. Residents
find ways to alleviate the overwhelming aural stimulation
from finding tranquil pockets in the city or turn to their
personal devices to control the aural landscape. Unfortunate-
ly, the tranquil pockets in the city are slowly disappearing.
Zooming in closer, excessive noise levels are also a problem
indoors within bars, restaurants, gyms, and retail stores.
The problem is not exclusive to external factors but is also a
product of over-congestion in social spaces. Noise pollution is
not just a nuisance but also a factor that diminishes mental
health and is linked to higher level of stress, hypertension,
and heart diseases.
To further understand all the factors around the issue of
noise pollution, I decided to start with an observational
method of research. Ben Wellington, a journalist for The
New Yorker, identified New York’s noisiest neighborhoods in
2017. Using his data as a starting point, the behavioral map
will be conducted at:
- Northside & Southside of Williamsburg
New York city’s 2nd Noisiest neighborhood.
There are two goals for this initial stage of research :
1. Indentify Key Stakeholders
2. Indentify factors the contribute to the aural environment

Iwent on location at 5.33 pm, around the time everyone
gets off from work, and stayed there till 6.00 pm. I
commuted to Williamsburg on a bike, since I wanted to
observe as much of the neighborhood as possible without
wasting time. In doing so I was able to indicate where
the noise action all started. As I got off Williamsburg
bridge, I turned into Bedford Avenue. Being one of the
main avenues in Williamsburg, there was a lot of action.
However, the action started to build up only after I crossed
Grand Street. The street was undergoing massive road
construction, I think a new water pipe is being installed.
As I approached the L train Bedford stop, there a gradual
build-up of activity that not only contributed to the aural
landscape but also the other sense. Visually, there were
more stores, people, and vehicles. I decided to stop by the
exit of the train and find a spot that I can carefully observe
the environment.
Initially, I thought to myself “this neighborhood isn’t that
noisy at all!”. Some of the factors that noticed contributed
to the soundscape are the overwhelming number of stores
that are throughout the span of Bedford Avenue. A number
of stores had their front doors open with music blasting in
the background. The dense traffic was also another major
contributor to all the noise. Within the traffic were also
industrial sized-trucks that were noticeably louder than
the passenger vehicles. As I sat at the same spot carefully
listening to the soundscape, I heard birdsongs in the midst
of all the urban/industrial environment. Which somewhat
made the overall environment more pleasant. I had a deci-
bel meter application downloaded prior to the fieldwork,
and the neighborhood captured a decibel average of 70 dB
and with a max of 83 dB. To get a sense of how loud it is,
refer to the attached image.
observed areaheavy activityconcentration of noise sound pockets

Observing the people within the space, they seem to not be
bothered much by the aural characteristic of the sound. Perhaps
they have attained tolerance to the noise of New York City to
some extent. Nonetheless, people with headphone plugged to
their ears were also a common sight. As it got closer to 6.00 pm
more and more people started to walk up the subway exits.
I felt that the aural space got somewhat louder, to a point where
it felt almost overwhelming. So I decided to get another decibel
metering, however, I got the same reading as before! Perhaps it
was my observational intentions that explains my overwhelming
experience towards the end.
Key Stakeholder:
The Individuals
Factors that contribute to aural landscape:
Multi/mixed use of space
Overcongestion heavy traffic
Ongoing construction
People chatter

The observational study led to the development of the first version of the real of reasoning. The identified key stakeholders within
the area of research are the individuals that live in New York City. From observing people, I noticed their desire to control the en-
vironment from their use of technology. Referencing Sherry Turkle and the notion of being “alone together”, and wanted to move
forward exploring how technology is used as a mitigative instrument to control the aural environment.
I was side-tracked by my curiosity and wanted to understand the emotional relationship that people have with the urban sound-
scape. I decided to design a provotype that could perhaps satisfy both my inquiry on technology and emotion.
The next section includes provotype proposals that were rejected, either because they were too far-reaching to achieve at this stage
of research or it didn’t allow me to create immediate action and yield immediate responses.

Provotype Proposal

1. Probe: How do you feel about this?
In what ways can we explore people’s emotional relationship in relation to urban sound
pollution?
The probe will be deployed at active sites/locations and it will be a form of a sticker with an
onomatopoeia that follows the question “how do you feel about this?”. The sticker will be
followed with a hashtag #howdoyoufeel. The sticker will come in three variations that address
three different sources of noise pollution: 1) Traffic 2) Construction 3) Human voices.

A. Traffic - BEEP HONK BEEP! How do you feel about this?

B. Construction - RRUUMBLE SCRUNCH SCRUUMBLE SCRUUUNCHH! How do you
feel about this

C. Human voices - Chatter Chatter Chatter, how do you feel about this?

Apart from physically track down each sticker, I hope to track the reaction on each sticker
down on social media via the hashtag.

This probe is referencing Candy Chang’s “I wish this was” project (http://candychang.com/
work/i-wish-this-was/) where she explores the process of civic engagement.

2. Destructive Interference
In what ways can we explore people’s emotional relationship in absence of sound?
Destructive interference is the technology behind noise-
canceling headphones. As far fetch as it might sound, I want to
use the same technology to create a quiet pocket in an open
public space. The basic theory of destructive interference is
creating silence by using the same sound wave but at an
opposite phase (the image explains the physics of it).

If this is not achievable the backup plan will be inviting people

into an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is a room that is
designed to absorb reflection of sound and also obstruct sound from
entering the chamber.

The objective is to observe and capture how people feel within the
space. To question people’s comfortability in completely silent
spaces and to provoke individuals emotional reaction in absence
sound.

3. The external stimuli
In what ways can we explore methods that people use to mitigate
eternal stimuli?
Dealing with a hangover is the perfect parallel scenario where people
deal with mitigating external stimuli. Using the hangover situation as
a starting point, this prototype will be a kit that consists of items that
help people deal with daily external sensory stimulation.

Items:

Sunglasses
Earphones
Eucalyptus inhaler
A journal
The journal will record the time that the subject uses an item in the kit, the feeling that
associate with an external stimulus, and most importantly a reflection on how they feel using
the kit. The reflection will be guided with questions:

At what part of the day do you feel like using an item in the kit?
What was the reason that you used it?
How did you feel after using the item?

I recruited a handful of people to participate in this initial provotype. I asked them to answer some questions as they commute
through the city. The questions include:
1. How did you feel about the aural landscape as you commute through the city?
2. What did you hear?
3. What types of sounds provoked you emotionally?
In the attempt to being experimental and understand what technology does to our behavior, I asked my test subjects to do the same
activity but with headphones on with nothing playing.
Link to the responses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wYe8g1gTyLilZKGs_zSS4Zt_SC2uFHiOuaAeAdZ1IiM/edit?usp=sharing
‘I think I just felt relieved to be home from
all the traveling. Hearing my door creak
meant that I was a bit closer to eating my
dinner.”
“I honestly felt kind of bored. There were a
ton of sounds around me, but nothing that
was distracting. I guess that I have gotten
so used to city noise by now that it is just
was in the background.”
“Sirens and car horns, they are always too
loud and make me angry. Construction
annoys me especially when I am talking on
the phone or with another person, it is as if
youre never alone.”
“I felt like I was paying more attention to
my surroundings. I was more aware of the
noises and peolpe around me. At times, I
felt obligated to have headphones on be-
cause everyone around me had it. “
“Long horns, it’s so unnecessary. It makes
me mad and I get anxiety attack from hear-
ing it.”
THE RESPONSES

THE INSIGHTS
1. Headphones, which is a mitigative instrument of the aural environment, creates separation and disconnection from the environ-
ment.
2. Some subjects feel that they have gotten used to the city noise. Traffic noise appear to be the common emotionally triggered type
of sound.

The challenge mapping activity was fruitful. It helped me indicate an area within my topic that was not only
interesting to me but also meaningful. Moreover, it led to the discovery of a key insight that guided me towards
the latter phase of the research process.
There's a strong emotional connection between people and sound

‘I think I just felt relieved to be home from all the traveling. Hearing
my door creak meant that I was a bit closer to eating my dinner.”
From this new found insight, I went back to my subjects and asked them to record their commute and share the sound clips with
me. This phase of research was guided by the inquiry question of “IWWMW explore people’s awareness of their emotions in rela-
tion to aural stimulation?” In all honesty, I was not able to get all of my previous test subjects to participate and was only able to
receive four sets of sound clips from two test subjects.
As I was listening through the sound clips that were sent back to me, I remembered one of the responses I received in the first provotype.
Much like the study of semiotics. There are sounds in our everday life that generates some kind of emotional response or makes us recall a
memory or nostalgic feeling. For a lack of a better word, I chose to call it “Sound Triggers”.
Portion of the sound clip with door creak
SOUND TRIGGERS
an aural stimulus that evokes an emotional response
and/or recall a nostalgic feeling.

REFINED TOPIC: SOUND + MEMORY + EMOTION

bbv
The next stepts in CAPSTONE journey will start with working with people and unpacking more unique experiences. A series of inter-
views will be conducted coupled with a questionaire that will be guided with these following questions.
FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOUND
What sounds from your childhood made the most impression on you?
How do you listen to the world around you?
Which place in the world do you favor for its sound?
How could we make sound improve our lives?
What sound would you like to wake up to?
NEXT STEPS

Noise: A love-Hate relationship

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