Rainforest Listening is an augmented reality project that layers rainforest soundscapes in urban environments.

Listeners access the sounds via mobile devices and sculpt their own experience by walking through urban environments and triggering geolocated soundscapes in iconic locations across the world.

​This project showcases the value of listening to natural environments in their current state of ecological uncertainty.

We live in a visually dominated society where we often neglect our auditory perception, yet it provides us with more information about our surrounding environment than any other sense.
Rainforest Listening brings sound to the forefront and explores the potential for mobile technology to reconnect us to the environment. 
 
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To experience Rainforest Listening you need a mobile device and headphones. We are currently using two applications Recho and Podwalk, with Recho being our core application for iOS and android users. ​The sounds are all location specific and only play when you are standing at the point the sound is tagged. Rainforest Listening sounds will stream from this page when we launch a live stream for World Rainforest Day in June 2016. 
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USING RECHO

Step 1. Download the free app Recho to your mobile device and connect your headphones.
Step 2. Walk towards the first sound, your phone will act as a compass and guide you through Rainforest Listening 
Step 4. When you approach the first sound it will play automatically, tap the sound once to open it. 
​Step 5. Wait for 3-5 seconds (to load) and stop to listen to the soundscape.

​Each sound walk can be experienced in less than an hour, but you are welcome to experience the installation in sections or return to different locations over the duration of the installation. You can start, stop or repeat the soundscape by tapping the middle button on the app. Some sounds are placed further apart to allow you to reflect and explore the environment. 

This experience is designed to encourage people to engage with one of the most critical environments on earth, the Amazon Rainforest. The featured ecosystems are lowland tropical rainforest with abundant wildlife. Listeners can hear the rich biodiversity of insects and birdlife and those who venture deeper into the sound map can discover the endangered Amazon River dolphins or elusive howler monkeys hidden throughout the sound map.

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USING PODWALK

​Podwalk is a brand new platform for site specific podcasts created by the Recho team in Copenhagen, Denmark. The app knows where you are and plays the right chapters at the right locations. It's a new way to tell stories about places and a great extension of the Rainforest Listening project. 

Join us in Paris for the Rainforest Listening Podwalks created in collaboration with the Streaming Museum and the UN Foundation for Earth to Paris. Our Podwalks follow a similar path to the sound maps but allow you to listen to continuous audio rather than discovering individual sounds. 
Podwalk is easy to use, just download the free app, walk to the location and listen! Currently podwalk is only available for iOS devices. 

​DOWNLOAD
​RECHO

DOWNLOAD
​PODWALK