What is SOUNDSCALE?

SOUNDSCALE is an interdisciplinary project that explores the technical capacities and the social, ethical, political, and environmental dimensions of an emerging technology called Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). 

DAS is a way of using fibre optic cables to detect and record environmental vibrations at a wide range of frequencies and across large distances. DAS can measure these environmental disturbances remotely, and has been used to “listen” to all sorts of sources, from whales to cars to earthquakes. Although DAS has been used in particular sectors for a couple of decades, it remains an emerging technology in the sense that new capabilities, applications, and contexts of deployment are still being developed. 

SOUNDSCALE is informed by a Citizens’ Panel held with residents from Hampshire and London during the first stage of the project. Their questions, concerns, and priorities helped shape the interdisciplinary research developed during the project, while public participation continues through artistic research, workshops, exhibitions, and policy engagement. 

Together, we are learning how to deliberate on an unfamiliar technology, grounding speculative scenarios in people’s everyday experiences and in the social and environmental conditions through which technologies are developed and deployed.