Published
Tue, Mar 27, 2018, 18:43
- The project uses 360-degree field recordings to evoke the hospital experience.
Barcelona festival Sónar's tech-focused offshoot, Sónar+D, has collaborated with a major hospital on an immersive audio project.
The piece, which is designed for headphones, recreates the experience of a patient entering a medical facility—in this case, Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron Hospital. It's built with binaural recordings of everything from computer keys to elevators, air conditioners and beeping machines, as well as conversations heard in operating rooms and waiting rooms. Its aim is to encourage empathy in health workers by immersing them in the experience of the patient.
Sónar+D is an arm of the long-running Spanish festival that "explores how creative minds are changing our present and imagining new futures." For this project they worked with Vall d'Hebron Hospital's Department Of Innovation as well as Intorno Labs, a tech company that specializes in 3D audio tools and composer Pedro Alcade.
Sónar+D will take place for the sixth time this June alongside Sónar itself, which is celebrating its milestone 25-year anniversary in Barcelona in 2018. RA will once again be at the festival, helping to curate a SonarLab lineup on Saturday that features Ben Klock and DJ Nobu, Errorsmith, Fatima Al Qadiri, JASSS and more.
Listen to a clip of the recording.