LISTENTREE
Gershon Dublon
2018 Camden International
Film Festival
Maine, USA
2015 CHI Interactive
Seoul, SK
2014 SXSW
Austin, Texas, USA
2014 MIT Museum
Cambridge, USA
2014 RIDM Montreal International Documentary Festival
Montreal, CA
2014 Centro Nacional de Las Artes
Mexico City, MX
PUBLICATIONS
Portocarrero, E. When Technology Enhances Play in Nature: Listentree, Built Environment Journal, Alexandrine Press, 2021
Portocarrero, E., Dublon, G., ListenTree CHI, 2015
Dublon, G.,Portocarrero, E. ListenTree ICAD, 2014
www.listentree.media.mit.edu
2018 Camden International
Film Festival
Maine, USA
2015 CHI Interactive
Seoul, SK
2014 SXSW
Austin, Texas, USA
2014 MIT Museum
Cambridge, USA
2014 RIDM Montreal International Documentary Festival
Montreal, CA
2014 Centro Nacional de Las Artes
Mexico City, MX
PUBLICATIONS
Portocarrero, E. When Technology Enhances Play in Nature: Listentree, Built Environment Journal, Alexandrine Press, 2021
Portocarrero, E., Dublon, G., ListenTree CHI, 2015
Dublon, G.,Portocarrero, E. ListenTree ICAD, 2014
www.listentree.media.mit.edu
A passer-by encounters another in an embrace with a tree, and then another, and another. Puzzled, she stops, and approaches. As she comes closer, she might feel the slightest tremor under her feet. But not until she joins in the embrace does she hear the voices inside the trees.
ListenTree is an audio-haptic display embeded in the natural environment. Motivated by a need for forms of display that fade into the background, our installati
on invites attention, rather than demanding it. We consume most our of our digital information through devices that often alienate us from our immediate surroundings; ListenTree points to a future where digital information becomes enmeshed in material.
A visitor to the installation notices a faint sound appearing to emerge from a tree (or several), and might feel a slight vibration under their feet as they approach. By resting their head against the tree, they are able to both feel and hear crystal clear sound through bone conduction. To create this effect, a specialized audio exciter transducer is weatherproofed and attached to the underground base of a tree (or trees), transforming the tree into a living speaker that channels audio through its branches and provides vibrotactile feedback. Any kind of sound can be played through the tree, including live audio or pre-recorded tracks.
