Sound Tossing

image: First Sound Tossing activities in Japan by Daich

The project was inspired by so-called Shoe Tossing or Shoefiti, the practice of hanging shoes which have been tied together on overhead cables such as power or telephone lines. Sound Tossing operates in a similar way to the visual codes used in Shoe Tossing; Small sound generators hooked up to loudspeakers are thrown onto overhead electric wires, buildings and trees, from which they emit acoustic signals. They are solar powered and their sounds are
pretty much like crickets.

Urban Crickets @ LeonArt from Soundfiti on Vimeo.

The project’s prototype “urban cricket” is a solar powered audio device that releases cricket sounds. Other components that can be used to generate sounds are motion detectors, timers and light-sensetive switches.

Sound Tossing (aka “soundfiti”) was created by Reinhard Gupfinger from Austria who ran DIY workshops at this year’s Ars Electronica Festival. Instructions on how to build a unit are available online. The website does not provide much info on the environmental consequences, so we’ll assume that you are supposed to clean up after yourself.