What Sound Is This Gesture?

People often use specific gestures and their voice when communicating sounds.
Ben P. Stein, Contributor

(Inside Science TV) -- Trying to describe a sound using only words is difficult.  The researchers at the Institut De Recherche Et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, France, a place that studies the science of music, discovered that people have a much easier time demonstrating a sound using their voices and gesturing. At the recent Acoustical Society of America meeting held in Jacksonville, Florida, the researchers presented their findings about: What do people use gestures for when they are imitating sounds and what information do these gestures convey?

This work was financed by the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Commission (Grant No. 618067, SkAT-VG)

Project website: Sketching Audio Technologies using Vocalizations and Gestures

Author Bio & Story Archive

Ben P. Stein is a former director of Inside Science and currently the managing editor in the public affairs office at National Institute of Standards and Technology.