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HarmonyWave: Immersive Space Sound Therapy with Audio-Visual Synesthesia

Published: 11 December 2024 Publication History

Abstract

The paper presents a study on sound therapy installation HarmonyWave utilizing audio-visual synesthesia to alleviate anxiety. At the core of HarmonyWave lies the mapping of sounds to visuals with three distinct methods: laser vibration for line-based effects, water vibration for color-based effects, and water vibration for texture-based effects. On the basis, we design an interactive installation for an immersive space sound therapy experience within 3D space. The setup enables the audience to simultaneously hear the sound and observe superimposed images while actively engaging with the interactive elements. HarmonyWave was implemented with 20 natural sounds, specifically focusing on white noise known for inducing a calm and soothing emotional state in urban environments. We envision HarmonyWave as a tool to alleviate tension and anxiety in urban settings, serving a therapeutic function. We also delve into the possibilities and diversity offered by the three sensory mediums for mapping audio to visuals.

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  1. HarmonyWave: Immersive Space Sound Therapy with Audio-Visual Synesthesia

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      cover image ACM Other conferences
      VINCI '24: Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Visual Information Communication and Interaction
      December 2024
      286 pages
      ISBN:9798400709678
      DOI:10.1145/3678698
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      Published: 11 December 2024

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      Author Tags

      1. HarmonyWave
      2. White noise
      3. Sound therapy
      4. Immersive space
      5. Audio-visual Synesthesia

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      • Guangzhou Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation

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      VINCI 2024

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      Overall Acceptance Rate 71 of 193 submissions, 37%

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