Andrea Cera - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Andrea Cera

Proceedings of the ICA congress, 2019

This study follows long-term lines of research and realizations accomplished within the frame of ... more This study follows long-term lines of research and realizations accomplished within the frame of electric vehicle sound design. It currently deals with the most up-to-date issue addressing the near future mobility: Autonomous Drive (AD). It has been implemented in a 2-year collaboration with a french car manufacturer that deployed a high-tech demo-car where the sonic dimension was explored in a spatial and a multisensory approach. Specific hardware devices (multi-channel diffusion system) and software protocols (spatialization and vehicle data transmission) made possible the study and realization of numerous and accurate internal/external warning sounds and auditory Human-Machine Interfaces. The autonomous driving condition was especially considered as it corresponds to an unprecedented user experience in terms of human-centered process, where sounds could play a crucial role for informing and, if necessary, reassuring the driver and passengers. This paper presents a thorough analysis of the project: initial requirements and data, multidisciplinary framework, technical details, sound concepts and realization. It also opens onto reflexive and prospective considerations about the global notion of sound quality that especially look at possible forms of low-intrusiveness in sound design, and their related properties.

This article describes an ongoing process, started in 2014, which brings together scientific rese... more This article describes an ongoing process, started in 2014, which brings together scientific research, artistic investigation, sound design tools development, and cooperation between various entities, institutional and non-institutional: the European project SkAT-VG, the independent Swiss platform Plakart, the Art Center of Château La Coste, social media. The artistic output of this process consists of series of sketches and fragments ([I titoli che seguono entro la parentesi tonda vanno tutti in corsivo] Pink Squirrels; S'i' Fosse Suono; after the Gate-Machines; The Brown Lipstick Sketches). The focus on sketching activities (in the SkAT-VG project) and the fragmented nature of the Internet (in the Plakart platform) has driven me to develop autonomous narrative frameworks to unify a seemingly disparate collection of short forms. I introduce my presentation with a synopsis of my aesthetic position, which revolves around the interference between different, or even incompatibl...

The EU H2020 ICT Project DANCE investigates how affective and social qualities of human full-body... more The EU H2020 ICT Project DANCE investigates how affective and social qualities of human full-body movements can be expressed, represented, and analysed by sound and music performance. In this paper we focus on one of the candidate movement qualities: Fluidity. An algorithm to detect Fluidity in full-body movement, and a model of interactive sonification to convey Fluidity through the auditory channel are presented. We developed a set of different sonifications: some follows the proposed sonification model, and others are based on different, in some cases opposite, rules. Our hypothesis is that our proposed sonification model is the most effective in communicating Fluidity. To confirm the hypothesis, we developed a serious game and performed an experiment with 22 participants at MOCO 2016 conference. Results suggest that the sonifications following our proposed model are the most effective in conveying Fluidity.

Le design sonore est un champ du design relativement recent qui consiste principalement a prendre... more Le design sonore est un champ du design relativement recent qui consiste principalement a prendre en compte la dimension sonore d’un objet au cours de son processus de conception – le terme objet pouvant etre pris au sens d’objet tangible (produit manufacture), d’objet numerique (interface homme-machine) ou d’objet spatial (environnement). Le design sonore concerne donc la creation sonore appliquee a des domaines ou penser le son, l’imaginer, le fabriquer et l’integrer s’avere necessaire, comme notamment : l’industrie, l’architecture, l’urbanisme, le cinema, les arts numeriques, et meme le marketing lorsqu’il s’agit d’associer le son a une identite de marque ou de produit. Sur la base de differentes etudes de reference et en relation avec sa discipline parente (le design), le design sonore peut etre vu comme le fruit d’une pratique collective [Ozcan et al., 2009], repondant a des exigences de plusieurs natures (cahier des charges), le cas echeant assujettie a des regles de compositi...

This article builds on a large industry-driven sound design experiment focusing on the underexplo... more This article builds on a large industry-driven sound design experiment focusing on the underexplored area of sound signature for silent electric vehicles. On the basis of some retrospective observations, and in the conceptual framework of design research, we propose a post-analysis that leads to provide insights on sound design as a discipline, considering its status, the status of its performers (sound designers), and its specific position between science and arts. The main aim of the article is to contribute to increase the general knowledge on sound design and to study it from the perspective of its principles, practices, and procedures.

Proceedings of the ICA congress, 2019

It seems now widely conceded that Quiet Vehicles are actually too quiet for leaving out the cruci... more It seems now widely conceded that Quiet Vehicles are actually too quiet for leaving out the crucial question of their sound signature. When considering the increasing volume of works in that domain, it looks obvious that a dedicated sound design approach for these new means of transport becomes fully relevant regarding security (for people around) or ergonomics (for people inside). For quite a long time, and among other labs, the Sound Perception and Design (SPD) team at Ircam has focused a part of its works on that topic which represents an emblematic framework to operate knowledge, methodologies or tools developed in the field of Sonic Interaction Design. The paper aims at presenting, first, an overview of recent scientific studies in that field together with a review of current legislations or standards that are – or tend to be – effective in several countries. In a second part, we will try to adress this issue in the light of several works achieved within SPD team, especially so...

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2018

Abstract Embodied sound design is a process of sound creation that involves the designer’s vocal ... more Abstract Embodied sound design is a process of sound creation that involves the designer’s vocal apparatus and gestures. The possibilities of vocal sketching were investigated by means of an art installation. An artist–designer interpreted several vocal self-portraits and rendered the corresponding synthetic sketches by using physics-based and concatenative sound synthesis. Both synthesis techniques afforded a broad range of artificial sound objects, from concrete to abstract, all derived from natural vocalisations. The vocal-to-synthetic transformation process was then automated in SEeD, a tool allowing to set and play interactively with physics- or corpus-based sound models. The voice-driven process and tool, developed and evaluated through design exercises, show how an embodied sound sketching system can work in supporting the externalisation of sonic concepts.

Proceedings of the 22nd Conference on l'Interaction Homme-Machine, 2010

An automotive multimedia system that would be sonifed should offer to the driver the possibility ... more An automotive multimedia system that would be sonifed should offer to the driver the possibility to interact with this system without his eyes, having thus a better visual focus on the road. The sonifcation should indeed facili tate the discovery of the system and the navigation wi thin the menu tree. We have prepared a prototype to test with users the eff ciency and acceptability of the sonifcation, made by hie rarchical sounds, vocal synthesis, spearcons (compressed vocal synthesis), musical samples and feeback sounds. Our results confrm that sonifcation is interesting. Even if it doesn't allow to navigate and to reach the data faster, the participants want to keep it as they fnd their driving safer. Vocal synthesis and hierarchical sounds used on the frst menu levels are the most helpful sounds with the alpha betical letters used in the long list of data. Hybrid sounds, composed of earcons and auditory icons, are pre fered to orchestra sounds (musems) because the link to the fonction is more intuitive. Spearcons are not appre ciated because they are not understood and do not help the positioning in the lists of data. Feedback sounds are appreciated all along the navigation, in particular the sound of scrolling and the sound « end of the list / empty list ».

Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2012

CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2012

We present Urban Musical Game, an installation using augmented sports balls to manipulate and tra... more We present Urban Musical Game, an installation using augmented sports balls to manipulate and transform an interactive music environment. The interaction is based on playing techniques, a concept borrowed from traditional music instruments and applied here to non musical objects.

Circuit: Musiques contemporaines, 2007

Résumé Les pièces d'Andrea Cera sont toujours générées par un processus d’interaction avec le... more Résumé Les pièces d'Andrea Cera sont toujours générées par un processus d’interaction avec le contexte dans lequel elles sont présentées. Cette interaction, toutefois, n’est pas toujours lisible au premier regard. Souvent ses travaux cachent leur vrai rapport avec le lieu, et le déclarent de façon chiffrée, ou à travers l’ironie, ou l’énigme. Ce jeu invisible, fait de stratifications et déguisements sera l’objet de son intervention, articulée autour de quatre projets élaborés entre 2004 et 2005.

classes.berklee.edu

In this text, I will describe a project which brings together three elements: 1) real-time sounds... more In this text, I will describe a project which brings together three elements: 1) real-time soundscape analysis and imitation; 2) the aesthetics of elevator music, ambient music, musique d'ameublement. I explored these first two elements in several works: Reactive ...

Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, Dec 4, 2018

This research is a part of a broader project exploring how movement qualities can be recognized b... more This research is a part of a broader project exploring how movement qualities can be recognized by means of the auditory channel: can we perceive an expressive full-body movement quality by means of its interactive sonification? The paper presents a sonification framework and an experiment to evaluate if embodied sonic training (i.e., experiencing interactive sonification of your own body movements) increases the recognition of such qualities through the auditory channel only, compared to a non-embodied sonic training condition. We focus on the sonification of two mid-level movement qualities: fragility and lightness. We base our sonification models, described in the first part, on the assumption that specific compounds of spectral features of a sound can contribute to the cross-modal perception of a specific movement quality. The experiment, described in the second part, involved 40 participants divided into two groups (embodied sonic training vs. no training). Participants were asked to report the level of lightness and fragility they perceived in 20 audio stimuli generated using the proposed sonification models. Results show that (1) both expressive qualities were correctly recognized from the audio stimuli, (2) a positive effect of embodied sonic training was observed for fragility but not for lightness. The paper is concluded by the description of the artistic performance that took place in 2017 in Genoa (Italy), in which the outcomes of the presented experiment were exploited. Keywords Sonification • Expressive qualities • Lightness • Fragility • Movement qualities • Embodied training M. Mancini participated to this work while being member of the Casa Paganini

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 07494467 2013 774122, Feb 1, 2013

Proceedings of the ICA congress, 2019

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2018

Proceedings of the 22nd Conference on l'Interaction Homme-Machine, 2010

Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2012

CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2012

Circuit: Musiques contemporaines, 2007

classes.berklee.edu

Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, Dec 4, 2018

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 07494467 2013 774122, Feb 1, 2013