Public invited to sound showcase at Plymouth University

Cutting edge technology which mimics the way bats and dolphins use sound to visualise the world is being displayed at a public event at Plymouth University next week.

An ultrasonic device able to record sounds that bounce off people as they move, a system that turns speech into music and a computer model that can identify behaviours from sound alone will all be on display to the public on Tuesday 21 February.

The showcase marks the visit of guest lecturer Andreas G Andreou, Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering at John Hopkins University in the United States, who will deliver a public talk entitled ‘Mind from Matter: A Journey Through Sound’ looking at the evolution of language and how it relates to the sounds of actions and human interactions.

For the past three years, the University has been leading a European project, named SCANDLE, looking at developing new technology that can mimic the way bats and dolphins see the world through sound. In future, these systems could be applied to a variety of real-life situations, from detecting life in smoke-filled buildings to spotting unusual behaviour in large crowds.

Professor Susan Denham, from the University’s Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems, and School of Psychology, said: “In the project we have combined knowledge from physics, acoustics, human auditory neuroscience and psychophysics with engineering and computer science to develop a system that learns to interpret changing patterns in the sounds in its environment in terms of movements and behaviour.”

Sound and movement experts from across Europe are due to visit Plymouth for a final project workshop, called Making Sense of Sound 2012, which will run at the National Marine Aquarium on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February.

The public lecture will take place on Tuesday at 7.30pm in Lecture Theatre 1, Roland Levinsky Building, preceded by a demonstration and poster session in the Levinsky Crosspoint at 4pm and drinks reception at 6pm with entertainment by local musicians. All are welcome. Entry is free and tickets can be booked by calling the Peninsula Arts box office on 01752 585050.

ENDS