Sound Around Town

Noise and sounds in different forms are everywhere. However, where, how, and to what levels noise pollution and sounds impact people is highly understudied. The goal of this Sound Around Town project is to better understand how this daily exposure affects us. By listening attentively to your soundscape and sharing what you hear, scientists will learn how natural and anthropogenic sounds affect people’s sense of place and concentration ability. Plus, participants can become more aware and appreciative of their acoustic environment.

Sound Around Town includes the following steps:

1. Choose an outdoor place to listen
2. Share the location of your phone or provide other details about your location
3. Carry out a 5-min Listening Session, noting the source of each sound you hear
4. Rate each sound by loudness, pleasantness, and how often it occurred
5. Play a 1-min Memory Game
6. Receive a visualization of your soundscape to share with friends
7. Consider doing more, including:
   Report on birds
   Report on decibel levels
   Report on light pollution (nighttime only)
   Report on your feelings about the site

We ask participants to carry out at least three listening sessions at a given location. We ask participants to share demographic details only once, and share their details about the place of the listening session only once per location. All participant data in Sound Around Town remains confidential.