April 21, 2023
The work "Sound-Observation" by Fumiya Sano (a third-year student in the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at the time of the award) and Miki Fujimoto (a 2022 graduate of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies), both members of the Shinya Fujii Laboratory, won the Grand Prize at Gikut-ten and was selected for the Yamanashi Media Arts Award.
Gikut-ten is a pitch contest for students aspiring to become engineers, aimed at promoting their output.
Additionally, the Yamanashi Media Arts Award is a contest for media art works with the aim of fostering and discovering artists and creators who possess high expressive power, imagination, or advanced digital technology skills.
Sano and Fujimoto's work "Sound-Observation" was created with the concept of "a device for observing stars with sound in a future where stars are no longer visible from Earth."
Comment from Fumiya Sano
I am very honored to receive such an award.
The theme of this work is, "What if we could no longer see the stars from Earth?"
In recent years, the starry sky has become gradually less visible due to air pollution and urbanization. If one day we can no longer see the stars from Earth, what options will be left for us?
This work, "Sound-Observation," is an experience of "observing" stars through sound.
Using star catalog data from the Hipparcos astrometry satellite, the system compares data plotted in a virtual space with the user's posture information. When a star is in the user's line of sight, it converts the star's information into numerical values and then into sound information. This system allows users to observe stars aurally, not only enabling them to feel the stars that have become invisible but also drawing their attention to stars they were previously unable to perceive. Furthermore, it sparks imagination about the unseen universe and offers a new way to enjoy the stars.
Encouraged by this award, I will continue to sincerely engage with the past, present, and future, and design new experiences from the perspective of "humans and the universe." I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone in the laboratory and all related parties for their guidance on this project.
Source: General Affairs Section, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office