Intentional | Audio Identity Blog from Sonic ID

For those of you in the Bay Area, here’s one of our favorite topics—sound and hybrids. We think the company that solves this problem will reap the benefits associated with branding the entire category. In other words, if Chevrolet (for example) can define ‘the sound of hybrids,’ then all hybrids will be associated with Chevrolet. Not a bad score for the engineering, design and brand teams that can work together to tackle this challenge.

And now, from the CCRMA Hearing Seminar mailing list:

Please join us for CCRMA colloquium on Monday, November 3rd. Lawrence D. Rosenblum will be giving a presentation entitled ‘Avoiding the Impact: Testing the Audibility of Hybrid Cars’.

With the growing number of hybrid and alternative fuel cars on the road, blind individuals are increasingly concerned with the lack of audible cues these cars typically provide. These concerns have prompted consideration of both federal and state bills to investigate the issue. In this talk, research will be presented showing that some hybrid cars, when traveling at slow speeds, are in fact dangerously quiet for pedestrians. Other research will be discussed indicating that we are all dependent on sound for avoiding oncoming hazards, so that the quietness of new cars could pose a threat to us all.

– Noel Franus