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Part 1 of the project - decide on a sound that i have a personal feeling towards.

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Sound ideas

1 Noises I hear at home

- Silence
- Aeroplane
- Bird whistles
- Dog Barking
- Kettle
- Music (Headphones)

2 Music (on repeat on Spotify)

- Careless Whisper – George Michael
- Play with fire – Sam Tinnesz, Yacht Money
- Map of the Problematique - Muse
- One in a million – Bosson
- Blood, sweat & tears - BTS
- Sway – The pussycat dolls
- Hysteria – Muse
- Never gonna give you up – Rick Astley
- Morning – Teyana Taylor, Kehlani
- Swim – Chase Atlantic

3 Noises I hear on a walk

- Trees swaying
- Wind
- Aeroplane
- People talking
- Dogs barking
- Crunchy snow
- Skateboard wheels
- Birds
- Cars

Favourite sound options with feelings

Bird’s singing

Makes me feel: alone

Due to covid, I have been working in the comfort of my room for almost a year now. At the beginning, I thought it was great, mostly because I didn’t have to commute an hour to get into uni, but now I’m feeling a little bit lonely. I normally listen to music in the background when doing these projects because it’s nice to have some sort of noise instead of being in a very quiet house. Yesterday I didn’t put my headphones on all day so I could hear the normal sounds of my house and it was fine until about 1pm when a group of birds started whistling outside my house.

For some reason, this bird group made me realise how isolated I actually felt at home and how lonely I was. While listening to them I realised that I enjoyed their company because I haven’t been able to see any of my friends in months.

Blood sweat & tears - BTS

Makes me feel: Nostalgic

I have been listening to lots of different type of music in the last couple of months and a lot of it are songs that are on old Spotify playlists. Blood, sweat & tears bring back such a nostalgic feeling because it brings me back to a time when I went to watch BTS in concert for my birthday 3 years ago. I went with a friend who I haven’t seen for a while and it gave me the incentive to message her so we could talk about our college days. Lots of other songs have the same effects on me, but the memories of this song at the concert will always be happy.

Map of the Problematique - MUSE

Makes me feel – Productive

Muse has loads of powerful songs but one of my favourites is Map of the Problematique. If I’m ever doing a project and I find myself procrastinating - this is one of the songs that I listen to get back on track with any work I need to do.

Crunchy snow

Make me feel – happy

It snowed in my town properly for the first time in years! It felt really great to leave the house and watch my dog play around in the snow. It also got my whole family out the house for a long walk which was great.

chosen sound - bird singing
I chose this sound as its something that i hear most days and i think it would be an interesting sound to explore more into.

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Part 2 of this project is to research, explore and analyse my sound to help identify a problem

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I did a little bit of research into bird calls to distinguish the specific breeds and after doing a few recordings and isolating a couple of songs, i narrowed it down to 5 birds - All photos found on the RSPCA website.

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The reasons bird sing:

Birds use songs for a variety of purposes, depending on the season and each individual bird's needs.
- Claiming and defending territory: A loud, complex song advertises to nearby birds that the territory is already inhabited by a healthy, active male. Any bird that wants to challenge him for his territory can judge their chances of success by interpreting the strength and complexity of his song.

- Attracting a mate: Just as a male's song advertises his territorial boundaries to rivals, it also lets nearby females know that he is strong and able to defend a good region. The complexity of a song can indicate health and age, since older birds have more time to learn new tones and tunes, and the amount of time a male spends singing demonstrates his endurance. This lets a potential mate know that he can provide for her and give her the best chance of raising healthy chicks.

- Courtship duets: In the courtship ritual of some bird species, both genders will sing in a complex duet that strengthens their pair bond. The interplay of their songs and how they respond to one another demonstrates their responsiveness and reinforces their commitment to one another. This also helps advertise that they are unavailable to other single birds.

- General communication: While birds have a variety of calls that are used for different types of communication, a song can also be used for more general purposes. A simple, basic song might call a mate to a new food source or summon them to incubation duty, or might keep birds in touch while flying.

how do birds sing?

Humans squeeze air from our lungs through the small gap between two vibrating flaps at the back of our throat while birds do the same but further down the air canal, where the air tubes split to go to the lungs. The most interesting part is that birds have two sets of flaps and can make a different noise with each set simultaneously. Some birds have air sacs surrounding the lungs to amplify the sound, which is how the songs seem so rich.

Bird songs in poetry

bird songs are a popular  subject in poetry a few popular examples include:

- 1177 Persian poem, 'the conference of the birds' , in which the birds of the world assemble under the wisest bird, the hoopoe, to decide who is to be their king.

- ,  John Keats' 1819 'Ode to a Nightingale'

- Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1820 'To a skylark'

- Ted hughes' 1970 collection of poems about a bird character, 'crow' ,
is considered one of his most important works

- Bird poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins include 'Sea and Skylark' and 'The windhover'.

The songs of birds have been an inspiration to poets for ages, and all poets interpret the songs in different ways.

Omens of good luck

An omen is an event regarded as a portent of good or evil. Many people believe that omens are celestial messages to communicate with us things that might happen in the future. Birds are regularly brought up as both good and bad omens.

Bad Omen - seeing a Raven
Good omen - Waking up to birds singing

Omens are different for everyone but a lot of people share that waking up to a birds song or a bird outside your window is a sign of good luck.

Even though i don't personally connect them with being a good omen, I enjoy hearing them throughout the day.

The spiritual meaning to bird songs

Bird songs can also have spiritual meanings and many people believe that birds may deliver angelic meaning through their songs. The author of "A Small Book of Angels," Eugene Stiles writes:

"The magical Milky Way, eternally associated with winged angels and home-going souls, is called in Finland ‘the Birds’ Way.’ It is the mysterious stairway to spiritual worlds, trodden by shamans and mystics but available to all, if we are taught how to listen to birdsong and recognise the angelic messages that birds deliver to us."

Listening to bird songs

After a quick google search i found several videos on youtube, promoting bird songs as a form of calming, relaxation music. A lot of these videos are hours long and are created for the enjoyment of people to listen to and chill out.

One specific video i watched was called 'singing birds' on youtube - which is a short 18 minute video of 27 different bird songs. It was very pleasant to listen to and its great background music while researching for this project.

I wanted to know what other people thought about this type of music so i checked out a couple of the comments under the video. These are a couple that i found most interesting -

- In todays hectic lifestyle, we are constantly exposed to small amounts of stress and have almost lost the ability to activate a natural relaxation reaction

- They sing with their whole bodies. The joy of life and existence in every note. Thank you.

- Its said that music is the universal language. Thank birds for their contribution

- Thank you again especially during this difficult time, a real blessing. so lovely to hear these birds.

-  I love this i - i feel closer to nature since i currently can't leave my house.

Reading some of these comments made me realise how special it is to some people to hear bird singing and just feel calm and relaxed - especially during this period of time. As a lot of people cant leave their houses at the moment - this could bring some normality back to people an and make them feel less isolated and alone.

Bird songs at the bus station

For me, hearing the birds in my garden remind me of the birds i used to hear at the bus station after university. The coach i get home comes once every hour so i have to wait until 4 to catch it. Usually i wait on one of the benches and i always see 3 or 4 birds walking around by the taxi rank. I have only heard them sining once which is when i took a later bus and there was barely anyone waiting at the station. It was comforting to have them there as i was on my own.

Thoughts

Everything i research comes back to the thoughts of loneliness. When i am working online with my class members or i'm listening to music, i drown out the songs, but when i'm alone by myself without any distractions and i can hear the birds - they remind me that i'm on my own. My work definitely reflects this as i am so used to sharing my work and ideas with my peers around me for feedback and guidance and now that is a lot harder to do. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - it just makes me realise that i am more productive and hard working when i have others around me. I think this would be a great route to go down as i think that a lot of other students would be in the same boat as me.

About loneliness - Mind website

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Student loneliness

Due to the pandemic a lot of student are feeling very isolated and alone, however  even without a pandemic, university can be a very lonely time for students. This is the first time that a lot of young people have left their families to live alone and it can be daunting when you don’t know anyone.

Signs of loneliness in students:
- Poor sleep quality: One of the most commonly overlooked components of physical and mental health for students is the lack of quality sleep. Someone experiencing severe loneliness who sleeps for the same number of hours per night as a fully healthy student will awaken more times and result in poor, fragmented sleep

- Overreacting: Some other signs of loneliness include high stress levels and a propensity for blowing things out of proportion. Research published in the Current Directions in Psychological Science journal show that people who experience negative feelings while alone often spend too much time ruminating, which leads to a cycle of stress and productive worry.

- You may feel unable to connect with others on a deeper emotional level. -

- Lonely students may lack close friends and feel like people don’t really understand them.

- Students may experience self-doubt and frequently question their self-worth.

- Lonely students may feel burnt out by social engagements.

- Loneliness can lead to substance abuse issues, beyond social or recreational use, and look more like dependence.

Student loneliness is actually a very serious epidemic that is more common than you may think. A lot of students hide this from others and so it is not as easy to spot, but obviously if you have moved away from your parents and friends, you will probably be feeling very isolated and lonely.

The best advice for students who feel lonely, is to make them understand that these feelings are more common than they may think. They can be vocal about it and not be ashamed to bring up the topic to others who may be going through the same thing.

Zoom and google meet is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family when you cant see them physically.

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Primary Research

I wanted to get responses from lots of different people in different years of university. I made an online questionnaire with the following questions:

1. What year of university are you in?
2. How many days of online group teaching sessions do you have per week?
3. Do you chat with your friends online regularly (zoom, google meet etc.)?
4. If yes, how many hours do you spend per week?
5. How has studying at home made you feel more isolated from others?
6.     If yes, has this effected your uni work?
7. What could be done to support you?

Questionnaire results – 18 answers

1. What year of university are you in?

Year 1 - 4 students
Year 2 - 12 students
Year 3 - 2 students

2.

1 day - 2 students
2 days - 7 students
3 days - 5 students
4 days - 4 students

3. Do you chat with your friends online regularly (zoom, google meet etc.)?

Yes - 8
No - 10

4. If yes, how many hours do you spend per week?

1 hour - 4
2 hours - 2
3 hours - 1
8 hours - 1

5. How has studying at home made you feel more isolated from others?

Yes - 16
No - 2

6. If yes, has this effected your uni work?

Yes - 13
No - 5

7. What could be done to support you?

- regular zoom groups
- advice on things to do to help feel less isolated
- uni activities to meet new people
- side projects in groups to work on things together
- online meet-ups - games etc

Questionnaire feedback

The feedback from my questionnaire was very interesting. I wanted people from different universities because i know that every uni has a different level of supports for their students.

The part i found interesting about the answers was that 10/18 people don't have frequent zoom/google meet calls with their friends. This could be for a lot of different reasons - but i think meeting up with friends could help a lot with feeling isolated from others.

A lot of the students talked about just wanting the presence of someone else working which could be a possible outcome for this project. I know that in previous projects i have done work in groups and i have found feedback from them to be very useful.

- Maybe an idea similar to zoom? being able to talk to others on a screen or just having someone to share questions with.

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part 3 of this project is to connect my idea and research to a theme

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I think from the research that i have compiled, my ideas best fit into the voices category. I have watched the videos on aula about the categories and due to this being about talking to isolated students that may want company throughout projects - voices seems to fit the best.

From the online survey i did, a lot of the feedback that i received from students were about how working with friends of zoom, even if they are not sharing ideas but just having the presence of someone else there, was what made them most productive. In the last couple of projects i have been working in a group and being able to have daily meeting to talk about work has made me feel less isolated.

My idea is to create a website for university students to contact each other through chats and face to face sessions to either share ideas or just have the company of others around them. The website will work similarly to zoom with the call and feature but also have a chat feature that allows students to talk if they are not comfortable showing their faces.

The Aim of the website is for students who feel a bit lonely and isolated at home to get together with friends and peers to talk not only about uni related projects, but also personal interests that they may share. As a lot of students cant leave their homes/ flats at the moment, they cant meet new people and hand out as young adults. This would also work after the pandemic for working at home and getting feedback even when you are not physically at university.

I drew up a quick sketch of what I want the website to look like.

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Ideally the website with have several chat features to contact others and a login so if you only want to be grouped with students at your university - you can do that.

Website features :

- Home - gives information about the aim of the website
- Login - students can login to just join students from their universities
- Meet - Allows students to set up rooms/ meetings and invite friends/ peers
- Chat - Join a chat about your subject or something you're interested in
- Call - Join a chat about your subject or something you're interested in

In the time that we had, i couldn't make a working prototype of my website but i did test out a few features with some of my friends to get their feedback.

Zoom call -

I set up a zoom call with 3 of my friends for 2 hours to get their feedback on how it effected their work ethic for those hours. They are both graphic designers studying at different universities. one of them lives at home with their parents and one of them is in student housing. The feedback -

Me (Year 2 graphic design student) - For the first 20 minutes we talked about current projects and what work we have been focusing on. It was nice to get feedback from other graphic design students and they gave me some great ideas for another project. After that we sat in silence for 40 minutes just focussing on our own independent work. Even though we weren't talking, it found it comforting to have them both there while i worked. once in a while we would ask ask each other questions or reference something that would lead to a short conversation but overall we were pretty quiet. After 40 minutes we had a short break to talk about how the zoom call was going and there was overall positive feedback. By the end of the 2 hours we had all completed a good amount of work and learned more about each others projects.

Ellen (Year 2 graphic design student) - It was great to catch up with you both and i felt like my work reflected working alongside you. Even in 2 hours i did more work that i have in the last week! Ive never thought about working in silence on zoom but it was great sharing questions and ideas whenever i had them. I like the overall idea and i think students would thrive with this kind of website.

Talitha (Year 2 UX/UI student) -
- Great idea
- Worked well as a 3 - how well would it work in a larger group?
- Enjoyed seeing what both of you were working on
- Really nice web design - simple yet effective
- Caters to all uni students
- Overall good outcome of my work - less procrastination

We all had a brief conversation after about how it worked out and the idea was met with positive feedback, and a couple of idea on how my website could possibly be laid out.

We also talked about naming the website and came up with unimeet. it is an easy name to remember and it says what it does!

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The rough prototype of my website

Unimeet is a website that all universities can access

Aim - create a website for students who feel isolated to share work, meet people with similar interests and be part of a supportive workspace.

The website allows users to login through their university if they only want to attend calls with people at that university. It is also not strictly used for course work, people can set up groups based on interests and invite others to attend meetings or chats.

Home page - Welcoming page with information about the website and how it can be used to benefit everyone.

Chat page - for people to engage with others regularly about questions and updates about their work/ interests

Call page - for people to access face to face studios to share work or interests and get feedback or just sit in with other group members and work quietly.

I dont have enough time to make a fully functioning website, but i created some page mockups on illustrator to show how it will be laid out.

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I am overall happy with the prototype, it incorporates everything that i got from the feedback and could be very useful to students who want to share work.