Application of mobile and internet technologies for the investigation of human relationships with soundscapes

This thesis presents a methodology for soundscape research, utilising consumer mobile and internet technologies. This has been used to gather objective environmental data, as well as subjective data from participants in-situ. A total of 323 untrained members of the public have submitted soundscape recordings from around the world. For the first time, participant choice has been factored into soundscape research, where members of the public decide which sound environments are investigated. Human relationships with their sound environments have been investigated, with a number of findings corresponding with those of other studies utilising entirely different methodologies. In addition, a number of new findings have been made to contribute to the field. The two extracted subjective principal components of ’Appreciation’ and ’Dynamics’ has shown a solid validation of the project’s methodology, due to their similarities with a number of other studies utilising different techniques of data retrieval. The distinctive groupings of the different soundscape types within this factor space defined by the extracted components reveals the perceptual differences between the soundscape categories: urban, rural, urban public space and urban park. The activity a person is involved in while making their submission has shown to be influential in soundscape appraisal, with relaxation and recreation situations resulting in increased soundscape appreciation. The reasons behind a soundscape submission have revealed significant differences in subjective response. The positive interpretation of the term soundscape has resulted in a majority of positive reasons for participation. Soundscapes that arise from a participant’s daily routine are generally less appreciated than soundscapes containing a particular sound source focus. The highest levels of appreciation were observed in soundscapes whose focus is on a specific activity that the participant is involved in. The interest that a participant has on their soundscape is seen to result in raised levels of appreciation