PRESS RELEASE                                                                   6^th May 2012

For immediate release

Listen Here

Listen Here is a service that connects tourists with locals, giving them a more genuine and culturally rich travel experience. It enables locals to introduce their favourite places to visitors by sharing live sounds from around the city.

Currently, globalization is spreading the same media, products and lifestyles worldwide. Motivated by a desire to combat this trend, Nicola Hume created Listen Here with the aim of promoting cultural diversity and local traditions. Listen Here lets travelers see more than the typical commercial tourist attractions. It entices them to stray from the beaten track and not only learn about, but participate in real, local life. Listen Here is a chance for tourists to escape the repetitiveness of travel books, websites and tour operators that are often financially motivated and find new experiences from people who know the city best.

A tangible and engaging map in the city centre is the focal point of the service. Locals leave microphones that transmit ambient sounds in their favourite places before marking them on the map. Visitors are then able to “listen in” to these places, gaining a sense of the atmosphere before choosing where to visit. By using sound alone to portray the atmosphere, Listen Here creates a sense of mystery and encourages exploration.

The map has been designed to catch people’s attention and prompt them to look closer. The features are laser cut in different colors and materials giving depth and texture. To listen to places, users move a stethoscope shaped hand piece over markers on the map. Embedded RFID technology enables a live sound feed from the matching microphone to then be played. The microphones are tough, being made from perspex and aluminium. A lock is incorporated in each one to secure them in place. The stand is crafted from welded sheet aluminium.

Intended to be installed in cities worldwide, Listen Here lets you benefit from local knowledge and find hidden gems wherever you travel.

For more information, please contact:

Nicola Hume

Website: www.nicolahume.co.uk

Email: info@nicolahume.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)7891831559

Notes to editor:

Nicola Hume is a recent Product Design graduate from the University of Dundee. She is passionate about making products that work, technically, socially and uniquely. From research through to creation she works closely with her users and aims to design experiences that provoke thought, change the way we interact with objects and enrich our daily lives. Some of her recent projects have focused on social and environmental issues such as energy usage, cultural diversity, globalisation and product obsolescence.

About Product Design at the University of Dundee:

BSc Product Design at the University of Dundee has established an international reputation across industry, research and teaching. “We educate students in how to design products by first understanding people’s needs and then working with them throughout the design process to develop appropriate, creative solutions. Through an understanding of technology students are encouraged to design products that work, so they become engaging objects/experiences that people can interact with. The aim is to develop designers who can re-appropriate existing and explore emerging technologies in a playful way and use them as a creative medium throughout the design process.” Polly Duplock, Programme Director.

“Listen Here” allows locals to introduce their favourite places to tourists by sharing live sounds from around the city. With the aim of preserving cultural diversity, Listen Here lets travellers see more than typical, commercial tourist attractions. It entices them to stray from the beaten track and learn about real, local life. A tangible, engaging map in the city centre is the focal point of the service. Locals leave microphones that transmit ambient sounds in their favourite places, before marking them on the map. Visitors are then able to “listen in” to these places, gaining a sense of the atmosphere before choosing where to visit. Using sound alone to represent environments, creates a sense of mystery and encourages exploration.

Almost finished, standing by its self!

This picture shows the supports for the side plates. All of the supports have been welded on.

Side plate

Glueing and clamping the sides

Hole for the map and housing to fit in to.

I’ve spent most f this week working with Tim in Engineering to get the stand finished. The job has been much harder than I ever realised as Tim has has made the whole thing by hand, using just a jigsaw and file. I had thought that he would be able to machine more of it but   he has taken so much time over it that you couldn’t tell it is hand made. The outer and inner skin of aluminium have been welded as well as all the supports for the side plates. We were considering welding the sides on but decided that it would take too long, risk warping the frame and would look messy. We therefore decided to glue them on using epoxy resin. I have been helping to file down the sides to fit with the frame as well as trying to polish out some of the scratches. Its been great learning some basic metal work skills as its something I’ve never done before. The stand is now structurally finished but still needs a lot of work in terms of polishing and fitting the map.