Eric Leonardson

Return to the Perimeter

Listening walk

Return to the Perimeter is an augmented reality (AR) soundwalk conceived as a peripatetic lecture. Designed for use with a participant’s own mobile device, the experience employs GPS-triggered audio to spatially align virtual sound elements with the physical environment.

The project integrates open-source data, ethnographic interviews and original sound design – drawn from both archival and newly created materials – to explore narratives of social control and relational kinship. Spoken voices, primarily in English, function as narrative agents, alternately guiding or challenging the listener.

Although predominantly auditory, the experience incorporates interactive visual elements, including digital maps and motion sensing, creating a multimodal interface responsive to gesture, location and movement.

Return to the Perimeter is an augmented reality (AR) soundwalk conceived as a peripatetic lecture. Designed for use with a participant’s own mobile device, the experience employs GPS-triggered audio to spatially align virtual sound elements with the physical environment.

The project integrates open-source data, ethnographic interviews and original sound design – drawn from both archival and newly created materials – to explore narratives of social control and relational kinship. Spoken voices, primarily in English, function as narrative agents, alternately guiding or challenging the listener.

Although predominantly auditory, the experience incorporates interactive visual elements, including digital maps and motion sensing, creating a multimodal interface responsive to gesture, location and movement.

Eric Leonardson

A Chicago-based sound artist, co-founder and President of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, and Adjunct Professor of Art and Technology/Sound Practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Author: Eric Leonardson
Photo: Matej Tomažin

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