Sonic Forest

Sonic Forest is a sonification project developed as part of Sensing the Forest, an interdisciplinary research project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The broader project explores how forest environments and climate-related processes can be understood through non-visual, sensory approaches, with a particular emphasis on sound.

Sensing the Forest combines environmental sensing, sound studies, and creative practice. A network of sensors is deployed in real forest environments to collect continuous microclimate data, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, light levels, and carbon-related measures. The project brings together researchers, artists, and designers to experiment with sonic, interactive, and installation-based responses to these data, aiming to bridge scientific information and public perception through listening.

Within this framework, Sonic Forest focuses on the real-time sonification of environmental data using parameter-mapping approaches. Rather than treating sound as a simple indicator, the project explores how data can be translated into perceptually meaningful and aesthetically structured sonic behaviours. Particular attention is given to how aesthetic decisions in sonification shape listeners’ perception, understanding, and sustained engagement with environmental change.

At the technical level, Sonic Forest is implemented as an interactive sonification system built in Pure Data and Max, with an emphasis on modularity and reuse. Sonification is approached as a research-through-design method, where system implementation, listening, and iterative refinement are central to investigating the role of sound in environmental awareness, public engagement, and humanistic inquiry.