David Larsson Holmgren 50% seminar

Title: Personalization of Sonic Interactions
Discussant: Rebecca Fiebrink, UAL
Supervisors: Sandra Pauletto, KTH, Rob Comber, KTH

Abstract:
Everyday sounds surround us continuously, both through our physical environments and through the sounds we produce when interacting with it. These sonic interactions naturally reflect our preferences, needs, and intentions. On the other hand, many current digital interactions rely on static sonic feedback with limited expressive control, despite the technological potential for more complex sonic interaction.
Personalization can be described as adapting systems or experiences to individual user preference and needs, and has become common in many areas of interaction design. Yet it remains rather under-explored in the domain of everyday sonic interaction. At the moment, there is no established framework for designing personalized everyday sonic interactions that promote user agency and personal expression.
While sound preference has been studied in areas such as music, preferences related to everyday sounds in general, from the perspective of both sound producer and listener, remain rather under explored. Especially considering the contextual factors shaping our sound preferences.
In this seminar, I will present insights from published and ongoing empirical studies examining everyday sound description and preferences. I will also discuss future work informed by these findings that aims to further the development of a design framework for personalized sonic interactions, as well as possible topics to explore in case studies. The session will conclude with an open discussion, inviting feedback to further refine the research trajectory.