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Nicolas Maisonneuve (Sony CSL Paris)
Matthias Stevens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Sony CSL Paris)
Luc Steels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Sony CSL Paris)
In this "Instructable" you will learn how you can use your GPS-equipped mobile phone as a mobile station to measure your personal exposure to noise and participate to the collective noise mapping of your neighbourhood or city. The maps can be visualised using Google Earth.
Noise pollution is a serious problem in many cities. Although authorities in some big cities have launched campaigns to monitor the problem, the maps they create are not always easily accessible and are usually not detailed enough to grasp the variations (in time and space) in the noise people are exposed to. However, using our new technologies you can help to improve the monitoring of such environmental issues by contributing to the noise mapping of your neighbourhood or city and thus participate to a kind of "Wikimapia" of noise pollution.
NoiseTube is a research project of the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris. The project is focused on developing a new participative approach for monitoring noise pollution involving the general public. Our goal is to extend the current usage of mobile phones by turning them into noise sensors enabling each citizen to measure his own exposure in his everyday environment and participate in the collective noise mapping of his city or neighborhood. More generally this research project investigates how the concept of participatory sensing can be applied to environmental issues and especially to monitor noise pollution. Participatory sensing advocates the use of widely deployed mobile devices (e.g. smart phones, PDAs) to form distributed sensor networks that enable public and professional users to gather, analyze and share local knowledge.
By installing a free application on your GPS-equipped mobile phone, you will be able to measure the level of noise in dB(A) (with a precision of few decibels compared to professional devices), comment on how you perceive the noise (tagging, subjective level of annoyance) and send all information (timestamp + geo-localized measurements + human input) automatically to the NoiseTube server through your phone's Internet connection. Afterwards the (collective) results can be visualisated on maps, as shown by the example in the 1st figure.
Motivations to participate in the NoiseTube experience
1. Measure your personal sound exposure and be more aware of your environment
How much decibel am I exposed to during my day? Such information is currently hard to obtain for citizens. Thanks to our application you will be able to measure your exposure in dB(A) in real-time without the need of an expensive sound level meter. We think that personalized environmental information may have a bigger impact on public awareness and behaviour than the global environmental statistics currently provided by governmental agencies.
2. Participate to the monitoring/mapping of noise pollution of your city
With your mobile phone you (and your group) can gather geo-localized measurements, annotate them and send them automatically to map local noise pollution, providing helpful information for local communities or public institutions to support decision making on local issues without waiting for officials (environmental agencies, government funding for expensive measuring campaigns) to turn their attention to your neighbourhood.
3. Help scientists to better understand noise from your experience
Unlike current noise pollution data coming from static sensors installed on fixed, specific locations, your 'people-centric' data could have great value to scientists to better understand the noise pollution issue through the people's exposure.
NoiseTube architecture
The NoiseTube platform consists of an application which the participants must install on their mobile phone to turn it into a noise sensor device. This mobile application collects local information from different sensors and sends it to the NoiseTube server, where the data from all participants is centralised and processed. The 2nd figure show an overview of this architecture.
Because the mobile application is the most important element for our participants we will now discuss it in detail in step 1.
Matthias Stevens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Sony CSL Paris)
Luc Steels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Sony CSL Paris)
In this "Instructable" you will learn how you can use your GPS-equipped mobile phone as a mobile station to measure your personal exposure to noise and participate to the collective noise mapping of your neighbourhood or city. The maps can be visualised using Google Earth.
Noise pollution is a serious problem in many cities. Although authorities in some big cities have launched campaigns to monitor the problem, the maps they create are not always easily accessible and are usually not detailed enough to grasp the variations (in time and space) in the noise people are exposed to. However, using our new technologies you can help to improve the monitoring of such environmental issues by contributing to the noise mapping of your neighbourhood or city and thus participate to a kind of "Wikimapia" of noise pollution.
NoiseTube is a research project of the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris. The project is focused on developing a new participative approach for monitoring noise pollution involving the general public. Our goal is to extend the current usage of mobile phones by turning them into noise sensors enabling each citizen to measure his own exposure in his everyday environment and participate in the collective noise mapping of his city or neighborhood. More generally this research project investigates how the concept of participatory sensing can be applied to environmental issues and especially to monitor noise pollution. Participatory sensing advocates the use of widely deployed mobile devices (e.g. smart phones, PDAs) to form distributed sensor networks that enable public and professional users to gather, analyze and share local knowledge.
By installing a free application on your GPS-equipped mobile phone, you will be able to measure the level of noise in dB(A) (with a precision of few decibels compared to professional devices), comment on how you perceive the noise (tagging, subjective level of annoyance) and send all information (timestamp + geo-localized measurements + human input) automatically to the NoiseTube server through your phone's Internet connection. Afterwards the (collective) results can be visualisated on maps, as shown by the example in the 1st figure.
Motivations to participate in the NoiseTube experience
1. Measure your personal sound exposure and be more aware of your environment
How much decibel am I exposed to during my day? Such information is currently hard to obtain for citizens. Thanks to our application you will be able to measure your exposure in dB(A) in real-time without the need of an expensive sound level meter. We think that personalized environmental information may have a bigger impact on public awareness and behaviour than the global environmental statistics currently provided by governmental agencies.
2. Participate to the monitoring/mapping of noise pollution of your city
With your mobile phone you (and your group) can gather geo-localized measurements, annotate them and send them automatically to map local noise pollution, providing helpful information for local communities or public institutions to support decision making on local issues without waiting for officials (environmental agencies, government funding for expensive measuring campaigns) to turn their attention to your neighbourhood.
3. Help scientists to better understand noise from your experience
Unlike current noise pollution data coming from static sensors installed on fixed, specific locations, your 'people-centric' data could have great value to scientists to better understand the noise pollution issue through the people's exposure.
NoiseTube architecture
The NoiseTube platform consists of an application which the participants must install on their mobile phone to turn it into a noise sensor device. This mobile application collects local information from different sensors and sends it to the NoiseTube server, where the data from all participants is centralised and processed. The 2nd figure show an overview of this architecture.
Because the mobile application is the most important element for our participants we will now discuss it in detail in step 1.
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Signing UpStep 1Equipment and software
The mobile application
Features
- Measuring and visualizing your the noise level you are exposed to in real time
- Tagging to comment on the measurements (e.g. the source of the noise, rating the perceived annoyance, ...). This information is used to add a semantic layer to the noise maps that are created.
- Automatically sending the (geo-localized and timestamped) data to your account on our server to update your personal "exposure profile" and the collective noise map.
Requirements
- A phone with a build-in GPS-chipset or an external GPS-receiver that can be connected to the phone through Bluetooth.
- A phone supporting the Java J2ME platform (CLDC/MIDP profile with the extensions: JSR-179 (Location API) and JSR-135 (Mobile Media API)).
- A data plan subscription for Internet access (through GPRS/EDGE/3G).
Notes:
Phone + external microphone
Instead of using the built-in microphone, you can plug an external microphone. On figure 1 you see a custom-made external microphone for the Nokia N95. If you are using an external microphone, we advice you to place the microphone not too close to your face to avoid only measuring your own voice; attaching the microphone close to your wrist is a good option.
Digital sound recorder + mobile application + desktop application
In the first version of Noisetube, the loudness measurement was not done in real time by the mobile application. Instead, a digital sound recorder (e.g.: M-Audio MicroTrack x series) was used to record the ambient sound. The mobile application (v1.0) aimed to localise the user (through GPS) and to facilitate commenting (tagging, rating, ...). A desktop application was then used to extract the loudness measures from the recorded sound, combine that data with the location track and user comments and send this information to the server. Figure 2 shows an overview of the architecture of NoiseTube v1.0.
Features
- Measuring and visualizing your the noise level you are exposed to in real time
- Tagging to comment on the measurements (e.g. the source of the noise, rating the perceived annoyance, ...). This information is used to add a semantic layer to the noise maps that are created.
- Automatically sending the (geo-localized and timestamped) data to your account on our server to update your personal "exposure profile" and the collective noise map.
Requirements
- A phone with a build-in GPS-chipset or an external GPS-receiver that can be connected to the phone through Bluetooth.
- A phone supporting the Java J2ME platform (CLDC/MIDP profile with the extensions: JSR-179 (Location API) and JSR-135 (Mobile Media API)).
- A data plan subscription for Internet access (through GPRS/EDGE/3G).
Notes:
- For the moment, the application has only been thoroughly tested on the Nokia N95 8GB and the Nokia 6220C. Other brands/models may or may not work. In a few weeks we plan to release a version for the Apple iPhone. You can subscribe through NoiseTube.net to stay informed about this and other future releases.
- To achieve credible decibel measurements it is recommended that only supported (calibrated) telephone models are used.
Phone + external microphone
Instead of using the built-in microphone, you can plug an external microphone. On figure 1 you see a custom-made external microphone for the Nokia N95. If you are using an external microphone, we advice you to place the microphone not too close to your face to avoid only measuring your own voice; attaching the microphone close to your wrist is a good option.
Digital sound recorder + mobile application + desktop application
In the first version of Noisetube, the loudness measurement was not done in real time by the mobile application. Instead, a digital sound recorder (e.g.: M-Audio MicroTrack x series) was used to record the ambient sound. The mobile application (v1.0) aimed to localise the user (through GPS) and to facilitate commenting (tagging, rating, ...). A desktop application was then used to extract the loudness measures from the recorded sound, combine that data with the location track and user comments and send this information to the server. Figure 2 shows an overview of the architecture of NoiseTube v1.0.
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Links found by searching at "www.project-butterfly.org"
Source-code and apk is on a minor public license:
http://download.project-butterfly.org/Butterfly-src.zip
http://download.project-butterfly.org/Butterfly-doc.zip