Losonnante – Exploring the sound of territories
Stemming from a Labex ITTEM training project in 2014 and incubated within Grenoble Alpes University’s development structures, the Losonnante bone conduction listening installation has become an entrepreneurial device. Here’s a look back at a social science-based tourism innovation.
The origin of the project: an educational workshop
The Belvédère augmenté educational workshop – led by the Pacte laboratory (UGA) and supported by Labex ITTEM – took place during 2014-2015, on mid-mountain terrain around Lac de Paladru in the Pays voironnais and surrounding area (Isère). At the time, the sector was considering the positioning of its regional offer in a competitive system, with local Sunday customers and a large number of second homes.
The choice of site and theme allowed us to combine the Labex’s research-action questions and ambitions with the expectations of a changing region. How can we enhance the value of this mountain and lakeside site, its natural and historical heritage, from its high points, belvederes and trails? What representations and imaginaries can be used to tell the story of this landscape?
It was against this backdrop that the workshop participants imagined a new sound dimension for the Paladru lookouts. Based on similar projects – such as the Touched Echo by artist Markus Kison (Dresden, Germany) or the Listen Tree by MIT researchers (Cambridge, USA) – and following exchanges with the Fab Lab at La Casemate and teachers from UGA and INP in Grenoble, the idea of a device enabling sound to be heard via bone conduction emerged. After several months’ work assembling the device and creating the sound content, the first prototype was offered for public testing on several occasions:
- At the Université des Alpes in Megève, for the “Boutique à projets” (September 2015).
- At Lake Paladru, for Heritage Days (September 2015).
- At the Grenoble Mini Maker Faire, presenting projects related to science, digital technology and the creative arts (October 2015).
The project was particularly well received, and its promoters – Thomas Bonnenfant (architect) and Sébastien De Pertat (geographer) – received much encouragement to develop the concept further. Potential outlets were identified: museums, exhibitions, educational projects and urban sites. Losonnante was born. At the end of the collective workshop, a student internship ensured a quality product for local partners.
The development of the
After this initial stage, the prototype was reworked to improve ergonomics and listening quality, and to make it a more robust model. The aim was to go beyond the technical object and propose a global approach, from scientific reflection to technical and artistic realization.
Over a period of several months, studies were carried out on various business segments: museums, waiting areas, street furniture, games and tourist attractions. Canvassing enabled us to identify the most interesting sectors and to initiate initial demonstrations and implementations.
An entrepreneurial project
Winner of Satt Linksium’s Out of Labs Challenge in November 2017, Losonnante will start a maturation program with the Pacte and AAU-Cresson laboratories in early 2019, under the scientific direction of Olivier Labussière and Nicolas Tixier. The aim is also to produce a new listening prototype (working on form, materials, scenography), and to identify concrete situations of application.
The Losonnante device is now an entrepreneurial project of Satt Linksium. It was recently presented at Innovatives SHS 2022.
Voironnais Culture and heritage Planning, public policy and governance Tourism and recreational practices
