“Eureka” From The Noise Around You
I want to ask you one simple question. What is “noise” to you? Is it an something annoying or something natural in your daily life? or is it something else.
Our company, HENNGE, is located in Shibuya, Tokyo. As you might know, Shibuya is one of the most crowded places in not only Tokyo, but Japan. The Shibuya Crossing is a really famous sightseeing place in Tokyo.
These days, I go to the company three days a week. Therefore, whenever I commute to the company, I see many people taking pictures or walking around at Shibuya. Such a city is filled with countless noise.
To tell the truth, I don’t like this kind of noise. It is completely far from comfortable or relaxing. In general, ‘noise’ is thought of as things that must be ignored or canceled. The emergence of noise-canceling devices is one example. But at the same time, this noise is filled with the chance to find something new.
Sometimes, “noise” turns into the representation of people's desires. We sometimes use a loud voice to express emotion. We sometimes take pictures with shutter sound―In Japan, we express it using onomatopoeia such as “カシャ”(kasha). This shutter sound is related to the desire to memorize beautiful landscapes and time with someone.
At the end of the 1960s, the composer of contemporary music, R. Murray Schafer claimed the concept of “Soundscape”. This concept is defined as the landscape of the sound. This soundscape concept is related to noises. When I was in graduate school, I researched such a concept.
Generally, we think of landscapes as entities in and of themselves. However, if we consider the concept of soundscape, we can think of landscapes as created through visuals and within spatiality that includes surrounding sounds.
As I mentioned in a previous article, Apple Vision Pro, which Apple released this year, can playback “spatial videos” shot with the latest iPhones. Spatial video extends the landscape. By adding spatial textures and spatial audio to traditional video landscapes, we can expect to create a new “landscape’’ as a three-dimensional experience.
This is a little off-topic, but ‘noise’ is full of discoveries. For example, imagine that you live close to a factory. The smoke and sounds from the factory may be considered noise to you. However, how would you feel if the factory stopped and the smoke and sound suddenly disappeared? At that time, you will probably realize that while the noise from the factory is a part of your daily life, it is also a part of the city’s broader landscape. This is a significant discovery.
This is because people rarely recognize the importance or presence of things that have become commonplace. Only when it is lost, then will people recognize it as something real.
This is the “Eureka” from the noise.
In business, we try to cut through the noise and focus on what really matters. This is not a mistake.
However, noise is essentially a possibility, a fragment of an unmanifested state of being.
We hear and see a lot of noise in Shibuya. However, for those of us who develop products and deliver them to many people, working in a city full of such noise may be meaningful.
