※ I need to preface this by saying a large part of my visualizer code is that of playgrdstar’s tutorial on audio visualizers. Go check him out for other cool art.
“Ambient Spaces” was created largely for myself, to remember the spaces and people I’ve been with over the years, but my hope is that it can be used by anyone as a way of recreating a past moment or to commemorate a current one. The project is a website in which visitors can explore ambient sound that has been recorded and mapped onto an interactive map. By clicking on any of the location markers, the visitor is taken to a customized audio visualization of the sound. Visitors can also choose to add their own sound file by clicking the “create” button.
Ambience is a powerful way for people to come together over a shared experience, or for you to meditate over a personal one. Ambience in the literal sense implies a shared experience because it is a physical space that can be experienced by anyone. When shared with people who you care about, this physical space becomes a marker for the experiences you and those people have shared and developed emotional bonds over. In this sense, ambience is a shared experience in the conceptual sense as well. Yet, because the individual person will interpret every shared experience differently based on their own past experiences, thoughts, and ties to the people around them, ambience is interpreted in a uniquely personal way. This dual property of ambience is what makes it appropriate to represent the connections and memories we have created within our time at University.
Click here to view the project
KAI WATANABE 