Abstract
Syren, a location-based, multi-speaker augmented audio reality installation
was presented as a shipboard exhibit at the 12th International Symposium on
Electronic Art in August 2004. It was conceived as a continuous 3-day
spatial audio experience that augments the landscape through the Baltic
archipelago with location-based audio media, spatialised through a 12-
channel speaker array. As the ship tracks between Helsinki, Mariehamn,
Stockholm and Tallinn, listeners on the upper deck hear sounds that are
perceived to originate from geographic features. Our custom GIS is derived
from electronic nautical charting information that includes coastlines, buoys
and beacons. A handheld GPS provides both position and direction data that
was used by a software system to drive parameters of the spatial audio
presentation. The sound production for the artwork was created using the
custom application that enabled the artist to place sound media in relation to
a real-world map. An important component to this software was the ability to
audition the audio experience without ever taking the journey.