Crowdsourcing City Quiet Spots

October 28, 2013 By IdeaConnection

Photo_of_the_fence_and_tree_trunks_in_the_Wertheim_park_in_Amsterdam;_a_high_resolution_image_by_FotoDutch_in_June_2013There is nothing quite like taking life in the slow lane every once in a while, perhaps a pause in the day to sit in solitude in some quiet, secluded spot.  In our busy urban centres these places are increasingly hard to find and are like gold dust.

If you are travelling to an unfamiliar city you may not know where the best spots are to gather your thoughts.  A new crowdsourcing initiative called Stereopublic is hoping to address this need.

The project is recruiting citizens to crowdsource tranquil settings.

 

Participants download a free iOS app and when they find a peaceful spot in their city, record its exact location on the Stereopublic map.  They also record a short, 30 second sound clip and take a picture to give other people an idea of what the area is like.

“I think of this project as a sonic health service for built environments,” said Jason Sweeney, part of the creative team behind the project.

Stereopublic has received impressive recognition, winning a USD $10,000 TED Prize City 2.0 award in 2012.

Tapping into Collective Wisdom to Discover Peace and Quiet

Currently, on Stereopublic’s website you can discover quiet spots in more than 30 cities in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania. More cities are coming on line all the time. Just go to the site and click on ‘explore currently activated cities’ to hear the relative sound of silence from these places.


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