Recently, artists and designers have begun to use digital technologies in order to stimulate bodily interaction, while scientists keep revealing new findings about sensorimotor contingencies, changing the way in which we understand human knowledge. However, implicit knowledge generated in artistic projects can become difficult to transfer and scientific research frequently remains isolated due to specific disciplinary languages and methodologies. By mutually enriching holistic creative approaches and highly specific scientific ways of working, this doctoral dissertation aims to set the foundation for Enactive Sound Design. It is focused on sound that engages sensorimotor experience that has been neglected within the existing design practices. The premise is that such a foundation can be best developed if grounded in transdisciplinary methods that bring together scientific and design approaches. The methodology adopted to achieve this goal is practice-based and supported by theoretical research and project analysis. Three different methodologies were formulated and evaluated during this doctoral study, based on a convergence of existing methods from design, psychology and human-computer interaction. First, a basic design approach was used to engage in a reflective creation process and to extend the existing work on interaction gestalt through hands-on activities. Second, psychophysical experiments were carried out and adapted to suit the needed shift from reception-based tests to a performance-based quantitative evaluation. Last, a set of participatory workshops were developed and conducted, within which the enactive sound exercises were iteratively tested through direct and participatory observation, questionnaires and interviews. A foundation for Enactive Sound Design developed in this dissertation includes novel methods that have been generated by extensive explorations into the fertile ground between basic design education, psychophysical experiments and participatory design. Combining creative practices with traditional task analysis further developed this basic design approach. The results were a number of abstract sonic artefacts conceptualised as the experimental apparatuses that can allow psychologists to study enactive sound experience. Furthermore, a collaboration between designers and scientists on a psychophysical study produced a new methodology for the evaluation of sensorimotor performance with tangible sound interfaces.These performance experiments have revealed that sonic feedback can support enactive learning. Finally, participatory workshops resulted in a number of novel methods focused on a holistic perspective fostered through a subjective experience of self-producing sound. They indicated the influence that such an approach may have on both artists and scientists in the future. The role of designer, as a scientific collaborator within psychological research and as a facilitator of participatory workshops, has been evaluated. Thus, this dissertation recommends a number of collaborative methods and strategies that can help designers to understand and reflectively create enactive sound objects. It is hoped that the examples of successful collaborations between designers and scientists presented in this thesis will encourage further projects and connections between different disciplines, with the final goal of creating a more engaging and a more aware sonic future.

With this thesis project I plan to create an embodied and sonic interactive experience. The theoretical basis brings together Somaesthetic Design and Deep Listening practices in the form of a movement based, sound installation. The results of engagement aim to develop awareness and with deep engagement produce a nonduality state. Taking influence from works by David Rokeby, Eliane Radigue, Bernard Leitner and Rian Treanor, this project revolves around the physical navigation of a soundscape with a secondary outcome of increasing awareness along with aiding stress and anxiety. The project also focuses on the importance of sound and its under representation in Interaction Design. The research began with a number of experiments taking cues from the mentioned practices, and to determine the overall effects of certain sounds when coupled with bodily engagement. After analyzing the relevant data the project underscores that the combination of sonic and embodied interaction can lead to positive therapeutic effects.

In Europe, households account for 25% of the energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. This report describes the implementation and evaluation of a playful virtual environment, where different interactive sound designs are used to implicitly promote household energy efficiency behaviors. Nine participants were recruited and assigned randomly to three testing groups with varying design schemes. The energy consumption data in the environment, participants’ Virtual Reality (VR) experience and musical education backgrounds, their subjective scales of sounds, and semi-structured interviews, were used to analyze if the sounds were properly designed. Inherent advantages of VR were verified, in both aspects of immersion and spatialization of sounds, while it failed to overcome the difficulty in communicating energy information to users, where implicit interactive sounds conveyed the information. However, people’s different expectations of household sounds and how they perceived the interactive sounds were recorded, potentially contributing to further research on sonic interaction in sustainability. / I Europa står hushållen för 25% av de energirelaterade växthusgasutsläppen. Denna rapport beskriver implementeringen och utvärderingen av en lekfull virtuell miljö (VR), där olika interaktiva ljuddesigner används för att implicit främja energieffektivitetsbeteenden hos hushåll. Nio deltagare rekryterades och fördelades slumpmässigt i tre testgrupper med olika designscheman. Energiförbrukningsdata i miljön, deltagarnas VR-upplevelse och musikaliska utbildningsbakgrund, deras subjektiva skalor av ljud samt semi-strukturerade intervjuer användes för att analysera om ljuden var korrekt designade. Inneboende fördelar med VR verifierades, både när det gällde immersion och rumsligisering av ljud, samtidigt som systemet misslyckades med att övervinna svårigheterna när det gäller att kommunicera energi-relaterad information med implicit interaktiva ljud till användarna. Däremot dokumenterades skillnaden i förväntningar kring hushållsljud mellan människor och hur de interaktiva ljuden uppfattades, vilket potentiellt kan bidra till den fortsatta forskningen inom ljudinteraktion för hållbarhet.

The application of digital elements to traditional playgrounds can enhance children’s outdoor play and counteract the growing trend of sedentary activities. This work reports the implementation and evaluation of a playground installation which looks at sound as the modality that can provide new and engaging play experiences. The design of this system follows an open-ended approach that let the children create their own emerging game goals and rules. The sound design is first tested in a lab setting and later on in a Swedish preschool, with a particular focus on the stages of play (invitation, exploration, and immersion). 38 children between 2 and 6 years old participated in a field study that lasted for three days. Children’s engagement over time was quantified and field notes were taken during the whole evaluation. None of the children between 2 and 3 years old reached the immersion stage. On the other hand, children between 4 and 6 years old created their own rules showing parallel and collaborative play and, in some occasions, solitary play. The sound modality chosen proved to be effective to encourage children’s play in a first place. In a longer engagement perspective, the soundscape partly supported an immersive play. The selection of the sounds to be integrated in the system demonstrated to be as fundamental as the physical appearance of the playground installation. The results of this study show how the visual and auditory modalities can be effective in an open-ended interactive playground and report the limitations of this design. / Additionen av digitala element till traditionella lekplatser kan förstärka barns utomhuslek och motverka den växande trenden av stillasittande aktiviteter. Detta arbete beskriver genomförandet och utvärderingen av en lekplatsinstallation med ljud i fokus som den modalitet som kan tillhandahålla nya och engagerande lekupplevelser. Utformningen av denna lekplatsinstallation skedde ur ett fri lek-perspektiv där barn skapar egna mål och regler till sin lek. Ljuddesignen är först testad i en laboratoriemiljö och senare i en svensk förskola, med särskilt fokus på lekfaserna (invit-fasen, utforskande-fasen och uppslukad-fasen). 38 barn mellan 2 och 6 år deltog in en fältstudie som varade i tre dagar. Barns engagemang över tid kvantifierades och noteringar togs under hela utvärderingen. Inga av barnen mellan 2 och 3 år nådde uppslukad-fasen. Å andra sidan skapade barn mellan 4 och 6 år egna regler som visar på parallell och samspelslek och i några fall ensamlek. Den valda ljudmodaliteten visade sig vara effektiv för att uppmuntra barns lek till en början. På längre sikt understödde ljudlandskapet delvis lek av uppslukad karaktär. Valet av ljud integrerat i systemet visade sig vara lika fundamental som den fysiska uppenbarelsen av lekplatsinstallationen. Resultaten av denna studie visar hur de visuella och auditoriska modaliteterna effektivt kan vara designade i en interaktiv lekplats för öppen lek, och begränsningarna av denna design rapporteras.

Barnkonventionen fastslår att barn och ungdomars röster ska höras i frågor som rör dem. Inom stadsplaneringsprocesser finns behov av nya metoder som inkluderar ungdomar på ett meningsfullt sätt. Studien syftade till att undersöka hur deltagande design, designfiktion och ljuddesign kan kombineras för att engagera ungdomar i stadsplaneringsprocesser. Detta undersöks i studien genom att utveckla och utvärdera en metod som benämns deltagande ljudfiktion. Metoden testades med ungdomar på en fritidsgård i Vårby gård där ljudfiktioner av Vårby år 2170 skapades och diskuterades. Resultatet visade att genom diskussion och spekulation kring framtiden avslöjades viktiga insikter om ungdomarnas verklighet, vilka kan vara av värde i stadsplaneringsprocesser. Vidare fann studien att ljud kan vidga ungdomars perspektiv på sin närmiljö. Studien visade att deltagande ljudfiktion har potential att engagera ungdomar men att de hellre vill diskutera nutiden för att känna att deras röster blir hörda. / The Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that the voices of children and youth must be heard on issues that concern them. In urban planning processes there is a need for new methods that include youth in a meaningful way. The study aimed to investigate how participatory design, design fiction and sound design can be combined to engage youth in urban planning processes. This is investigated in the study by developing and evaluating a method called participatory sound fiction. The method was tested with youths in a youth center in Vårby gård where sound fictions of Vårby in 2170 were created and discussed. The results showed that through discussion and speculation about the future, important insights were revealed about the youths' reality, which can be of value in urban planning processes. Furthermore, the study found that sound can broaden youths’ perspective on their immediate environment. The study showed that participatory sound fiction has the potential to engage youths, but that they prefer to discuss the present in order to feel that their voices are being heard.

In this thesis I present explorative work that shows how sounds beyond speak can be used on the input side in the design of interactive experiences and natural interfaces. By engagingin explorative approaches with a material view on sound and interactive machine learning, I’ve shown how these two counterparts may be combined with a goal to envision new possibilities and perspectives on sonic natural interfaces beyond speech. This exploration has been guided with a theoretical background ofdesign materials, machine learning, sonic interaction design and with a research through design driven process, I’ve used iterative prototyping and workshops with participants to conduct knowledge and guide the explorative process. My design work has resultedin new prototyping tools for designers to work with sound and interactive machine learning as well as a prototypes concept for kids that aims to manifest the material ndings around sound and interactive machine learning that I’ve done in this project.By evaluating my design work in contextual settings with participants, I’ve conducted both analytical and productive investigations than can construct new perspectives on how sound based interfaces beyond speech can be designed to support new interactive experiences with artefacts. Here my focus has been to engage with sound as a design material from both contextual and individual perspectives, and how this can be explored by end-users empowered by interactive machine learning to foster new forms of creative engagement with our physical world.

Engaging in the music set of one’s favorite artist or DJ is oftentimes leading to the result of a powerful and euphoric felt experience, a sensation partly also induced from dancing in beat to the music. In an attempt to simulate a similar dance experience, a user-study was designed in order to investigate when a user is let to dance in rhythm to a music playback and in addition, in control of a music playback tempo through the induced dance movements. A proof-of-concept prototype was built and tested in an initial study, followed by a main study where the prototype had been modified and 12 participants participated. A questionnaire was given containing various question statements to be rated through a Likert-scale regarding their subjective experience. Open-ended questions were also included to collect their own opinions. From the results, an enhanced engagement and enjoyment of the music could be identified when being able to manipulate the tempo. / Att engagera sig i ett musikset av ens favoritartist eller DJ leder ofta till resultatet av en kraftfull och euforisk känsloupplevelse, en känsla delvis framkallat av att man dansar i takt med musiken. I ett försök att simulera en liknande dansupplevelse undersöker denna användarstudie när en användare dansar i rytm till musik och dessutom är i kontroll av tempot genom de skapade dansrörelserna. En proof-of-concept prototyp konstruerades och testades i en första studie, följt av en huvudstudie där prototypen hade modifierats och 12 deltagare deltog. Ett frågeformulär gavs med olika frågor som skulle bedömas via en Likert-skala, med avseende på deras subjektiva erfarenhet. Öppna frågor ingick också för att samla deras egna åsikter. Från resultaten kunde ett ökat engagemang och en förhöjd njutning av musiken identifieras när man kunde manipulera tempot.

Technology has during the last decades been adopted into the dance art form which has appeared as interactive dance. Many studies and performances have been conducted investigating this merging of dance and technology and the mapping of the motion data to other modalities. But none have previously explored how the introduction of technology affects the mutually interdependent relationship, the co-play, between a dancer and a live musician in a completely live setting. This thesis specifically explores this novel stting by investigating which sound parameters of a live drummer’s sound a dancer should be able to manipulate, through the usage of motion tracking sensors, to alter the dancer’s experience positively in comparison of without the usage of the tool. For this purpose, two studies have been conducted. First, a development study to create a prototype from the first person perspective of a professional dancer and choreographer. Second, an evaluative study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of the prototype and the experience of the manipulation of the sound parameters chosen, on a larger group of professional dancers. The studies showed that the sound parameters of delay and pitch altered a dance experience most positively. This thesis further shows that it is important for the user to get enough time to truly get to know the interactions allowed by the system, to actually be able to evaluate experience of the sound parameters. / Teknik har under de senaste decennierna anammats in i danskonsten vilket har framträtt som interaktiv dans. Många studier och föreställningar har genomförts för att undersöka denna sammanslagning av dans och teknik, och mappningen av rörelsedata till andra modaliteter. Men ingen har tidigare undersökt hur introduktionen av teknik påverkar samspelet, den ömsesidigt beroende relationen, mellan en dansare och en live-musiker i en fullständigt live inramning. Den här avhandlingen utforskar specifikt denna nya inramning genom att undersöka vilka ljudparametrar av en live-trummis ljud en dansare ska kunna manipulera genom användning av rörelsesensorer, för att förändra en dansarens upplevelse positivt i jämförelse med utan användning av verktyget. För detta ändamål har två studier genomförts. Först en utvecklingsstudie för att skapa en prototyp från ett förstapersonsperspektiv av en professionell dansare och koreograf. Sedan genomfördes en utvärderingsstudie för att utvärdera användbarheten av prototypen och upplevelsen av att manipulera de valda ljudparametrarna, på en större grupp professionella dansare. Studierna visade att ljudparametrarna av fördröjning och tonhöjd förändrade en dansupplevelse mest positivt. Denna avhandling visar vidare att det är viktig för användaren att få tillräckligt med tid för att verkligen lära känna de interaktioner som systemet tillåter, för att faktiskt kunna utvärdera upplevelsen av själva ljudparametrarna.

Engaging in the music set of one’s favorite artist or DJ is oftentimes leading to the result of a powerful and euphoric felt experience, a sensation partly also induced from dancing in beat to the music. In an attempt to simulate a similar dance experience, this user-study examines when a user is let to dance in rhythm to a music playback and in addition, in control of a music playback tempo through the generated dance movements. A proof-of-concept prototype was built and tested in an initial study, followed by a main study where the prototype had been modified and 12 participants participated. A questionnaire was given containing various question statements to be rated through a Likert-scale regarding their subjective experience. Open-ended questions were also included to collect their own opinions. From the results, an enhanced engagement and enjoyment of the music could be identified when being able to manipulate the tempo. / Att engagera sig i ett musik-set av ens favoritartist eller DJ leder ofta till resultatet av en kraftfull och euforisk känsloupplevelse, en känsla delvis framkallat av att man dansar i takt med musiken. I ett försök att simulera en liknande dansupplevelse undersöker denna användarstudie när en användare dansar i rytm till musik och dessutom är i kontroll av tempot genom de skapade dansrörelserna. En proof-of-concept prototyp konstruerades och testades i en första studie, följt av en huvudstudie där prototypen hade modifierats och 12 deltagare deltog. Ett frågeformulär gavs med olika frågor som skulle bedömas via en Likert-skala, med avseende på deras subjektiva erfarenhet. Öppna frågor ingick också för att samla deras egna åsikter. Från resultaten kunde ett ökat engagemang och en förhöjd njutning av musiken identifieras när man kunde manipulera tempot.

There is a growing interest in designing for whole body interactions in the field of Human–Computer Interaction, where numerous researchers are using this knowledge for creating new age digital musical instruments, with the secondary focus on creating inclusive music creation mediums for all. The aim was to create a new interaction medium for Sound Forest, a digital musical instrument at Stockholm Museum of Performing Arts. In this report we have used an Android app to allow users to modulate sound created by the Sound Forest by their hand movements. The app was tested and evaluated by 9 individual users, where they were told to use the app and were asked to try to modulate the sound with their hands while holding the phone in their hand. They were asked to fill a Google Form that inquired about their experience and asked about their informal feedback regarding the process. The data was visualised and observed, where one can see the moderate success of the mappings and visual feedback provided by the app. Qualitative suggestions provided by the users were recorded for future development and evaluation. / Det finns ett växande intresse för att designa interaktioner av hela kroppen inom området människa–datorinteraktion, där många forskare använder denna kunskap för att skapa nya digitala musikinstrument, samt för att skapa inkluderande musikskapande medier lämpliga för alla. Syftet var att skapa ett nytt interaktionsmedium för Sound Forest, ett digitalt musikinstrument vid Stockholms Scenkonstmuseum. I den här rapporten har vi använt en Androidapp för att tillåta användare att modulera ljud som skapas av Sound Forest genom sina handrörelser. Appen testades och utvärderades av 9 individuella användare, där de blev tillsagda att använda appen och ombads att försöka modulera ljudet med händerna medan de höll telefonen i handen. De ombads att fylla i ett Google-formulär angående deras upplevelse samt deras informella feedback angående processen. Datan visualiserades och observerades, vilket visade framgången av kartläggningarna och den visuella feedback som kom från appen. Kvalitativa förslag från användarna registrerades för framtida utveckling och utvärdering.