“VR for Advancing Research vs. Research for Advancing VR”

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Media & Studio Arts Symposium

Time-Based Arts & Technology


VR for Advancing Research vs. Research for Advancing VR

February 15, 2019 | 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Alaa Algargoosh

Description: Alaa will describe some of the possibilities of using VR tools to analyze acoustic environments and discuss how this kind of research can contribute to developing the VR technology. She will provide examples and demos related to architectural acoustics, then open the discussion about some potential applications in different fields (i.e., film-making, music production, video games, archaeology [archeo-acoustics], etc.)


Presenter Bio:

Alaa Algargoosh has always been fascinated by sound and its relation to shapes. As an architect, she had a special interest in the influence of the architectural design on sound, and this was the driving force behind wanting to study architectural acoustics. Her previous work includes designing innovative sound diffusers inspired by the cymatics phenomenon in which she explored some of the physical aspects of room acoustics. However, the physical measurements do not precisely reflect the human acoustical experience. Therefore, her study extends to include the perceptual and cultural aspects of acoustics, providing a more integrated approach to understanding the aural experience. The physical aspect concentrates on analyzing sound propagation in space whereas the perceptual aspect centered on the psychological and physiological effects of sound and its relation to human cognition. The cultural aspect focuses on studying the role of the cultural background in sound perception and the role of social activities in shaping the soundscape of specific places. Hence, her research aims at providing a new comprehensive method of analyzing the aural architecture of buildings by linking qualitative and quantitative methods, studying the ways in which they interact, and how they relate to the architectural design.