Acoustic Experience

The subject of sound is easy to be relegated."Indifference to sound" has long been prevailed no matter in design practice,design education or design research.In light of the situation,this thesis addresses the relationship between sound and design.The thesis takes acoustic experience as its object and integrates sound research with design research.With a number of audio clips and data gained by field recording and audio monitoring as examples,it investigates auditory experience in information communication design,interaction design and landscape design from the aspects of functionality and aesthetics,supported by a range of interdisciplinary theories from acoustics,design studies,perceptual psychology to aesthetics.As a physical variable,sound is one of the elements constituting auditory aesthetics in design.The perceptual and emotional responses it evokes reflect the impact of how we listen on how we understand.As a medium of communication,sound opens up a sensory dimension for design.In the process,it gives off information,interacts with the listeners,and creates a moment of beauty for them.This thesis decomposes the constituents of the designing process and analyzes the roles that different types of sounds play in the process from both functional and aesthetic perspectives.Regarding sound as a medium of communication,this thesis also studies sound transmission,acoustic communication and sound consciousness that helps optimize the designing experience.This thesis puts forward a series of questions concerning acoustic experience.What is acoustic experience?(Chapter 2)Where does auditory aesthetics come from?(Chapter 3)What are the different forms of expression and perceptual effects of acoustic experience in different kinds of design?(Chapter 4)How to create aesthetical experience from sounds?(Chapter 2)How to cope with people's indifference to sounds and the lack of acoustic aesthetics in design education?(Chapter 6)What kind of acoustic experience demand will design bring as it develops?(Chapter 7)The above six questions build the framework of the research and forms the discursive structure of this thesis.The study starts from exploring the existence form of sound and the way it is being sensed.In this part,emphasis is put on the constituents and the relation between the subject and object of acoustic experience.It also discusses the hearing features in the implicit communication of design,and tries to give a definition for sound consciousness.Secondly,this thesis examines how artistic experience of sound is obtained,explores the process in which sound consciousness complete its aesthetic transition so as to enrich the meanings of auditory aesthetics.In the main body of the thesis,a large amount of efforts have been devoted to explain the affordance of sound and acoustic communication mechanism in the process of design.Also in this part,the author further examines sound consciousness and the aesthetic thinking of design experience,tries to find out the functional and aesthetic logic behind it and provides practical methods to optimize the process.Lastly,on account of the noise pollution in eco-environment and the lack of aural literacy in design education,the author puts forward the importance of sound consciousness in emotional education and suggests to incorporate auditory aesthetics into the curriculum of design majors.The development of design industry has called for more attention on interactive experience and acoustic aesthetic awareness,and also brought research on the five senses and synesthetic experience to light.Researchers in the field endeavors to explore the aesthetic value of sounds in design,and their efforts will in turn help enhance innovation in the process of design.