Phonetic Shapes: An Interactive, Sonic Guest Book

Sound exists only in the moment, and cannot be referenced or searched, except in the mutable memories of people. Because of this, it has been an overlooked modality and social information channel, particularly where nonverbal communication cues and identity are concerned. Yet, it encapsulates a person's identity as effectively as a fingerprint or signature. Sound is even more useful when combined with other modalities, like the visual and gestural. In order to use the modality of sound effectively, however, we need tools that simultaneously analyze, persist, and present the important information in sound. What if you could capture identity and meaning in sound, and give it additional affordances, that go beyond those of written communication? In this paper, we explore the voice as identity and as the carrier of nonverbal information in the context of a sonic guest book.