Embodied Tuning: Interfacing Danish Radio Heritage

Most museum exhibitions favor vision, not hearing. When there is audio in exhibitions, it tends to take on a secondary role as a soundtrack or commentary. In some cases, however, audio should be the primary object of interest. Radio heritage is such a case. The traditional way of showcasing audio is through webaccessible archives or through listening kiosks in the exhibition. Neither one takes advantage of the unique affordances of the spatiality and physicality of an exhibition. We therefore propose an alternative way of exhibiting radio heritage in a listening exhibition where users move around and explore the physical gallery space.

We implemented a simple, low-cost prototype system called Exaudimus, allowing users to search for the audio streams using their own bodies as a metaphorical radio-tuning dial.

We tested the concept in a public exhibition at the Media Museum in Denmark. A small, qualitative user study conducted during the exhibition shows promise for this type of immersive experience. The users, however, tended to perceive it as a