Sound-O-Matic: A tool for designing and implementing 3D soundscapes

The last two decades have witnessed a growing significance of soundscape design as a core topic in Interaction Design. Sound-O-Matic is an innovative tool that facilitates the design of real-time three-dimensional soundscapes. Diverging from conventional track-based audio tools, Sound-O-Matic is constructed atop Unity, a robust 3D game engine, thereby empowering designers to intricately address the temporal and spatial dynamics inherent in soundscape design. This study showcases three enduring and one transitory soundscape instances, seamlessly integrated into diverse settings: 1) a greenhouse, 2) a bunker, 3) a playground, and 4) a passenger train. These case studies illustrate how Sound-O-Matic adeptly manages a spectrum of design considerations encompassing the spatial configuration of speakers, the temporal dynamics inherent in the soundscape, interaction, and user experience. The discussion compares the four cases, highlights the diversity of the designs, and concludes with a brief discussion of potential further development of the tool.