Sound sensing using smartphones as a crowdsourcing approach

Sounds are one of the most valuable information sources for human beings from the viewpoint of understanding the environment around them. We have been now investigating the method of detecting and visualizing crowded situations in the city in a sound-sensing manner. For this purpose, we have developed a sound collection system oriented to a crowdsourcing approach and carried out the sound-collection in two Japanese cities, Okayama and Kurashiki. In this paper, we present an overview of sound collections. Then, to show an effectiveness of analyzation by sensed sounds, we profile characteristics of the cities through the visualization results of the sound.