The Ambient Horn: designing a novel audio-based learning experience

Authors:
Cliff Randell;Sara Price;Yvonne Rogers;Eric Harris;Geraldine Fitzpatrick
Affiliations:
Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, BS8 1UB, Bristol, UK;Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, BN1 9QH, Brighton, UK;School of Informatics, Indiana University, USA;Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, BN1 9QH, Brighton, UK;Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, BN1 9QH, Brighton, UK
Venue:
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
Year:
2004

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Abstract

The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat distributions and interdependencies in an outdoor woodland environment. The horn was designed to emit non-speech audio sounds representing ecological processes. Both symbolic and arbitrary mappings were used to represent the processes. The sounds are triggered in response to the children’s location in certain parts of the woodland. A main objective was to provoke children into interpreting and reflecting upon the significance of the sounds in the context in which they occur. Our study of the horn being used showed the sounds to be provocative, generating much discussion about what they signified in relation to what the children saw in the woodland. In addition, the children appropriated the horn in creative ways, trying to ‘scoop’ up new sounds as they walked in different parts of the woodland.