Pacific bell tower, a sculptural sound installation for live sonification of earthquake data

Pacific Bell Tower tolls for you... to remind of the fragility of the Earth's crust, and the reality faced by people around the Pacific Ocean exposed to the terrifying power of unpredictable earthquakes and volcanoes. The tower is installed at the centre of a public space, such as a lobby, using parametric 'beam' speakers and wall reflections to diffuse a surround soundscape consisting of virtual bianzhong bells, during one minute at every half hour. Each peal is unique, generated in real-time using Internet data about the most recently detected earthquake activity. The bell sounds are spatialised according to the geographical positions of events, and their pitch and harmonicity reflect the epicentre depth and magnitude.