Please watch modules 23-25 and comment with your responses to any of Nick’s ‘Write on the class blog’ prompts.
7 thoughts on “Week 12 Participation Blog”
Active hearing: I heard the sound of the heating system, the electric system which sounded like a refrigerator, the sound of the elevator moving up and down and the sound of people walking on the floor above me. It took me around 10-15 seconds to hear them.
APS: The APS that I have used a lot was the one near my home back in Kansas. It had a voice command when we pressed it to cross the road. It said,”Wait to cross Anderson Avenue on 17th street”. And then when the signal went green, it said some command which my roommate and I had argument on all the time. I still could not figure out what it said. I liked having the voice command on there but it would have been great if it was clear.
Thoughts on APS
Living in a town with no sidewalks or stop lights where people would cross the road I would not even be aware of what APS was. I have lived in many of the largest cities in America so I have history with hearing them, but nothing in probably 10-12 years. My time in the ‘big city’ of Portland was limited to going back and forth to work so I truly had not been in a crosswalk at an intersection in I would not tell you how long. When I actually heard one a couple of weeks ago while I was in D.C for a job interview it took me a few seconds to figure out what exactly it was. I stopped and looked around, looking like the confused country bumpkin I felt like. I do not feel that they add to the confusion or traffic noise, I think overall they are helpful.
Audition I – What did I hear? How long did it take for you to notice sounds that were filtered out?
In my office (3rd floor of Boardman Hall), there is a constant, dull sound from the fans or heating system coming from somewhere above. I hear this all the time but tend not to notice it. When I closed my eyes, I did notice some intermittent beeping sounds, coming from the elevator (I think), which I normally don’t notice. I also heard some truck backing up outside, with the warning beeps, which I normally filter out as well. My office is also close to the elevator and I did notice the door opening and closing which I don’t normally hear at all.
Audition II – Do you have an experience with APSs? What are your thoughts?
I have notice that Orono has an APS system but it is low in volume and I have a hard time hearing what words it is trying to say. I have heard other cross-walk systems in other cities which I though we more effective because I could understand them better. The most annoying APS is the one in O’hare Airport in Chicago that keeps saying “Walk” over and over. If their intention is to get your attention by annoying you then they certainly succeeded.
In the active listening exercise, I was not so surprised by what I heard, but I think that’s because I’m very aware that I live in a noisy environment. I heard the refrigerator, the downstairs neighbor’s plumbing, the motorbikes accelerating up the hilly on our street, kids crying, the wheels of delivery carts clacking on the tiled sidewalk, rush hour traffic from the intersection a block little more than a block away, and the repetitive cockatiel on the 4th floor balcony across the street. All the stuff I hear every day and try to tune out. Often when I’m home alone I’m listening to the phone ringing in the building next door or the woman 2 floors below me watching her soaps in the afternoon and baby-talking to her dog, and endless doorbells which are not mine. Such is life in a population-dense city like this. But I also heard my own breathing (this is part of a meditation practice I do occasionally) and most of all I heard my own ears drowning everything in tinnitus noise. This is a bummer because I don’t hear it loudly all the time but once I notice it, I will have a hard time ignoring it again. I would honestly prefer the street noise to the tinnitus.
I don’t have any direct experience with APS, except for coming across them once in a while. I suppose in terms of noise, I would prefer the beeping type to the speaking type, because maybe it’s easier to tune out the beeping if you have to be near one for long periods of time. I did notice that there was an APS installed in downtown Orono, just a few yards from where I used to live, and I think that would have bothered me if I had to listen to it at home, going off at all hours of the night and day, as it seems to do. Are there implementations that allow the APS to sound only when it’s requested? Another detail I have noticed is that while it might be an intuitive sound in some places, it will not necessarily be so in other places. In the US, some beeping AP signals start beeping slowly and over time get closer together, turning to a solid tone as your time runs out, giving a sense of urgency as the countdown timer reaches the end. Here in Barcelona, it seems to be the opposite, as they start beeping frequently and close together, and get slower as your time runs out. This seems counterintuitive to me because I can’t tell when the last beep occurs until I wait for the next pause and it doesn’t happen. I’m glad I don’t have to rely on it to cross the street.
Active hearing:
I began to hear the sound of my wife’s watch ticking. It was almost immediate that I began to hear it. I listened for about a minute, and was unable to hear much else, but this probably has to do with some hearing loss that I suffer from.
APS:
I don’t encounter these very often, but the ones I have encountered have a beeping noise to indicate that you should not walk, and a different beeping noise to indicate that you should walk. The issue I always had with these is that I wouldn’t know which beep meant which unless I could also see the visual cue informing me as much.
Module 23 –
What did I hear? How long did it take for you to notice sounds that were filtered out?
Recently, my employment has put forth an initiative to take a moment and just breath. Essentially meditate for five minutes each day. As such, this is not a new exercise for me. Lately I have been working on pushing away thoughts and focusing only on what I hear, smell or feel each time I meditate. In my house in the middle of Augusta, I think it is more odd the absence of sound. I often hear the louder vehicles, large trucks or motorcycles, but regular traffic doesn’t makes its way to me. The loudest noise in my house is often the fridge or my dad typing on his keyboard upstairs. When I stop and really focus, I can hear my cats shifting about the house, unless the dogs are chasing them, then anyone can hear that. Being the only hearing person in a family, I tend to rely very heavily on my auditory senses. Though it is always difficult when I ask them if they heard something, and they all shrug their shoulders.
Module 24 –
Do you have any experiences with auditory pedestrian signals(APS)? What are your thoughts on APS?
At the main intersection near my house there is one. It is a simple chirp when it is safe to cross. It stops when the light is about to turn so that sight impaired individuals don’t begin crossing too late. I could see if I was living in one of the houses near that crossing how it could be infuriating especially late at night. It would be wonderful if there was some way of indicating when this type of signal was needed. So that it did not need to play all night long. Possibly have it run all night, but then create something to allow those with visual impairment to activate it at night. Personally, with the amount of noise in even this small corner of Augusta, ( I live within sight of the Capitol Building), I think a little chirp goes unnoticed throughout the day.
I did this experiment in an airport (O’ Hare), so the first thing I noticed was an overwhelming amount of noise. This was especially true because it was significantly busy. Looking past that, the next thing I noticed was constant mechanical noise. This came from the planes idling on the runway, but also things like the heating systems, elevators, and moving walkways. Even with no humans present there would be a significant amount of noise. The next thing I noticed was background music playing on the speakers. Generally, I have only paid attention to the speakers for announcements and have never noticed them playing music before.
Audition 2 – Auditory Pedestrian Signals
My experience with APS has been with two types. The verbal type that describes when it is safe to cross and what the street names are, and the type that just have a slower clicking sound when it is not safe to cross, and faster when it is. I have found the verbal ones to be somewhat annoying, while I do not notice the clicking type as much. This may be because the verbal ones tend to be louder in my experience, as they need to not only being audible, but also understandable. The clicking type can be quieter as the information is just the speed of clicks, and the tones from individual clicks to not need to be distinguishable. I have also found that it is easy for the clicking type to blend into the background noise so they feel significantly less intrusive.
Active hearing: I heard the sound of the heating system, the electric system which sounded like a refrigerator, the sound of the elevator moving up and down and the sound of people walking on the floor above me. It took me around 10-15 seconds to hear them.
APS: The APS that I have used a lot was the one near my home back in Kansas. It had a voice command when we pressed it to cross the road. It said,”Wait to cross Anderson Avenue on 17th street”. And then when the signal went green, it said some command which my roommate and I had argument on all the time. I still could not figure out what it said. I liked having the voice command on there but it would have been great if it was clear.
Thoughts on APS
Living in a town with no sidewalks or stop lights where people would cross the road I would not even be aware of what APS was. I have lived in many of the largest cities in America so I have history with hearing them, but nothing in probably 10-12 years. My time in the ‘big city’ of Portland was limited to going back and forth to work so I truly had not been in a crosswalk at an intersection in I would not tell you how long. When I actually heard one a couple of weeks ago while I was in D.C for a job interview it took me a few seconds to figure out what exactly it was. I stopped and looked around, looking like the confused country bumpkin I felt like. I do not feel that they add to the confusion or traffic noise, I think overall they are helpful.
Audition I – What did I hear? How long did it take for you to notice sounds that were filtered out?
In my office (3rd floor of Boardman Hall), there is a constant, dull sound from the fans or heating system coming from somewhere above. I hear this all the time but tend not to notice it. When I closed my eyes, I did notice some intermittent beeping sounds, coming from the elevator (I think), which I normally don’t notice. I also heard some truck backing up outside, with the warning beeps, which I normally filter out as well. My office is also close to the elevator and I did notice the door opening and closing which I don’t normally hear at all.
Audition II – Do you have an experience with APSs? What are your thoughts?
I have notice that Orono has an APS system but it is low in volume and I have a hard time hearing what words it is trying to say. I have heard other cross-walk systems in other cities which I though we more effective because I could understand them better. The most annoying APS is the one in O’hare Airport in Chicago that keeps saying “Walk” over and over. If their intention is to get your attention by annoying you then they certainly succeeded.
In the active listening exercise, I was not so surprised by what I heard, but I think that’s because I’m very aware that I live in a noisy environment. I heard the refrigerator, the downstairs neighbor’s plumbing, the motorbikes accelerating up the hilly on our street, kids crying, the wheels of delivery carts clacking on the tiled sidewalk, rush hour traffic from the intersection a block little more than a block away, and the repetitive cockatiel on the 4th floor balcony across the street. All the stuff I hear every day and try to tune out. Often when I’m home alone I’m listening to the phone ringing in the building next door or the woman 2 floors below me watching her soaps in the afternoon and baby-talking to her dog, and endless doorbells which are not mine. Such is life in a population-dense city like this. But I also heard my own breathing (this is part of a meditation practice I do occasionally) and most of all I heard my own ears drowning everything in tinnitus noise. This is a bummer because I don’t hear it loudly all the time but once I notice it, I will have a hard time ignoring it again. I would honestly prefer the street noise to the tinnitus.
I don’t have any direct experience with APS, except for coming across them once in a while. I suppose in terms of noise, I would prefer the beeping type to the speaking type, because maybe it’s easier to tune out the beeping if you have to be near one for long periods of time. I did notice that there was an APS installed in downtown Orono, just a few yards from where I used to live, and I think that would have bothered me if I had to listen to it at home, going off at all hours of the night and day, as it seems to do. Are there implementations that allow the APS to sound only when it’s requested? Another detail I have noticed is that while it might be an intuitive sound in some places, it will not necessarily be so in other places. In the US, some beeping AP signals start beeping slowly and over time get closer together, turning to a solid tone as your time runs out, giving a sense of urgency as the countdown timer reaches the end. Here in Barcelona, it seems to be the opposite, as they start beeping frequently and close together, and get slower as your time runs out. This seems counterintuitive to me because I can’t tell when the last beep occurs until I wait for the next pause and it doesn’t happen. I’m glad I don’t have to rely on it to cross the street.
Active hearing:
I began to hear the sound of my wife’s watch ticking. It was almost immediate that I began to hear it. I listened for about a minute, and was unable to hear much else, but this probably has to do with some hearing loss that I suffer from.
APS:
I don’t encounter these very often, but the ones I have encountered have a beeping noise to indicate that you should not walk, and a different beeping noise to indicate that you should walk. The issue I always had with these is that I wouldn’t know which beep meant which unless I could also see the visual cue informing me as much.
Module 23 –
What did I hear? How long did it take for you to notice sounds that were filtered out?
Recently, my employment has put forth an initiative to take a moment and just breath. Essentially meditate for five minutes each day. As such, this is not a new exercise for me. Lately I have been working on pushing away thoughts and focusing only on what I hear, smell or feel each time I meditate. In my house in the middle of Augusta, I think it is more odd the absence of sound. I often hear the louder vehicles, large trucks or motorcycles, but regular traffic doesn’t makes its way to me. The loudest noise in my house is often the fridge or my dad typing on his keyboard upstairs. When I stop and really focus, I can hear my cats shifting about the house, unless the dogs are chasing them, then anyone can hear that. Being the only hearing person in a family, I tend to rely very heavily on my auditory senses. Though it is always difficult when I ask them if they heard something, and they all shrug their shoulders.
Module 24 –
Do you have any experiences with auditory pedestrian signals(APS)? What are your thoughts on APS?
At the main intersection near my house there is one. It is a simple chirp when it is safe to cross. It stops when the light is about to turn so that sight impaired individuals don’t begin crossing too late. I could see if I was living in one of the houses near that crossing how it could be infuriating especially late at night. It would be wonderful if there was some way of indicating when this type of signal was needed. So that it did not need to play all night long. Possibly have it run all night, but then create something to allow those with visual impairment to activate it at night. Personally, with the amount of noise in even this small corner of Augusta, ( I live within sight of the Capitol Building), I think a little chirp goes unnoticed throughout the day.
Audition 1 – Background audio
I did this experiment in an airport (O’ Hare), so the first thing I noticed was an overwhelming amount of noise. This was especially true because it was significantly busy. Looking past that, the next thing I noticed was constant mechanical noise. This came from the planes idling on the runway, but also things like the heating systems, elevators, and moving walkways. Even with no humans present there would be a significant amount of noise. The next thing I noticed was background music playing on the speakers. Generally, I have only paid attention to the speakers for announcements and have never noticed them playing music before.
Audition 2 – Auditory Pedestrian Signals
My experience with APS has been with two types. The verbal type that describes when it is safe to cross and what the street names are, and the type that just have a slower clicking sound when it is not safe to cross, and faster when it is. I have found the verbal ones to be somewhat annoying, while I do not notice the clicking type as much. This may be because the verbal ones tend to be louder in my experience, as they need to not only being audible, but also understandable. The clicking type can be quieter as the information is just the speed of clicks, and the tones from individual clicks to not need to be distinguishable. I have also found that it is easy for the clicking type to blend into the background noise so they feel significantly less intrusive.