About & Research

Research questions

HearHere asks how the same urban acoustic environment can be experienced so differently depending on a person's hearing profile, and whether citizen-collected, in-the-moment data can capture that difference at a city scale. In particular, the project looks at:

• How objective sound levels relate (or don't) to subjective loudness, pleasantness, stress, and arousal ratings at the same location and moment.
• Whether people with tinnitus, hyperacusis, misophonia, ADHD, or autism show systematically different soundscape experiences than the general population.
• Whether a citizen-science approach can produce a usable, city-wide "soundscape map" that complements traditional, sparse acoustic measurement networks.

This builds on a broader body of international soundscape and hearing-health research linking sound perception to wellbeing, attention, and quality of life — adapted here into an in-the-field, participant-driven method.

Method, in brief

1. In-the-moment recording. Participants use a mobile app (CS Logger / Project Builder) to record short audio clips together with quick self-report ratings (loudness, valence, arousal, disturbance, stress) at the exact location and moment of interest.
2. Objective audio analysis. Recordings are analysed to extract objective acoustic features (e.g. A-weighted loudness), and selected clips are manually tagged for content (traffic, voices, construction, nature sounds, …).
3. Stakeholder input (Delphi method). All interested citizens and stakeholders, city officials, and researchers help shape research questions and interpret findings through structured Delphi workshops.
4. Synthesis. Objective and subjective data are combined into the interactive map and analysed for patterns across hearing profiles and locations — informing candidate "Acoustic Relief Zones" and other recommendations.

Longer term, the project also explores a 3D-audio dome installation to let policymakers and the public experience representative soundscapes directly, rather than only see them on a map.

Current state of the project

• Pilot phase complete: 20+ participants, 100+ geospatial audio measurements collected and validated.
• First stakeholder Delphi workshop held in April 2026.
• Ethics approval (KEK Zurich) secured.

Why it matters

Urban noise policy is usually built on sparse, objective measurement networks alone. HearHere adds the missing piece, how noise is actually experienced, and does so inclusively, across hearing profiles that are too often left out of soundscape research. The long-term goal is evidence that cities like Zürich can use directly: identifying where quiet, restorative "Acoustic Relief Zones" would have the most benefit, and for whom.

Data management & ethics

Only anonymised, aggregated data is ever published. Raw recordings, location data, and questionnaire responses are handled under the study's ethics approval and retained per UZH/ETH data management policy (10-year retention for research data). See the data protection statement for details on participant data handling, and Team & Funding for funders and partners.

Dissemination

Results are shared through the public interactive map (see Interactive Map), the project's GitLab repository, public bulletins for participants and stakeholders, and academic publications.