Futures of Listening

The SSC contributes to the Futures of Listening Consortium through a focused research strand on accessibility, inclusion, and sonic agency within immersive and spatial sound practices. While the broader project investigates new stories, structures, and technologies for spatial sound, the SSC’s involvement concentrates on how these developments can become accessible beyond specialized venues and dominant modes of perception. Our work examines mobile and adaptable immersive sound systems, non-visual approaches to spatial sound creation, and disability-led perspectives on listening and design. Through a symposium, residencies, and research activities, the SSC explores how immersive sound environments shape who is addressed, who is excluded, and how communities can gain agency in shaping their sonic surroundings. By foregrounding diverse listening practices and situated experiences, the SSC’s contribution aims to expand understandings of spatial sound as a social, cultural, and political practice within the larger Futures of Listening program.

The Futures of Listening Consortium consists of Fiber Festival Amsterdam, 4D Sound, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatory The Hague, iii - Instrument Inventors Initiative The Hague, Monom Berlin, PXL-Music Research at PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hasselt, and CTM Festival Berlin.