Sonification of construction site data

What is it about?

Purpose - The noise and dust particles caused by the construction transport are by most stakeholders experienced as disturbing. The purpose of this study is to explore how sonification can support visualization in construction planning to decrease construction transport disturbances. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents an interdisciplinary research project, combining research on construction logistics, IoT, and sonification. First a data recording device including sound, particle, temperature, and humidity sensors was implemented and deployed in a development project. Second the collected data was used in a sonification design which was, third, evaluated with potential users. Findings - The results showed that the low-cost sensors used could capture “good enough” data according to the reference group, and that the use of sonification for representing this data was experienced as relevant for members of the reference group and a possible useful tool in urban and construction transport planning. Research limitations - There is a need to further evolve the sonification design to better communicate the intention with the sounds used to potential users. Further testing is also needed. Practical implications - This study introduces new ideas of how to support visualization with sonification planning the construction work and its impact on the vicinity of the site. Currently, urban planning and construction planning focus on visualizing the final result, with little focus on how to handle disturbances during the construction process. Originality/value - Showing the potentials of using low-cost sensor data in sonification, and using sonification together with visualization is the result of a novel interdisciplinary research area combination.

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Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash

Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash