Sounds of New York City (SONYC)

From where did we obtain the sound files?

We have sensors around New York City recording 24 hours a day. Theses recordings are processed in order to present to you 10-second snippets that contain sounds that are relevant to our study.

What will this information be used for?

Head to the About section to learn more about the SONYC project and the impact this study will have in our community.

What if I can't identify a sound?

You can go to the Field Guide and listen to sound examples of those sounds you're confused about. If you're still unsure, you can flag up any subject you don't feel sure about by clicking on the Talk button at the end of your classification. You can leave a comment or question and we will get back to you.

What if I have a Question?

Join us on Talk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

What do I do if I hear multiple sounds in the recording?

Please select all of the labels that correspond to the sounds you hear.

What if I hear a sound that's not listed in the question?

If the question is specific to a sound and the sound is not present in the recording, please select "No". We only care about that specific sound in these questions. If you think there is anything interesting about the sound you hear, please flag it up by clicking on the Talk button at the end of your classification.

What is the colorful visualization that accompanies the sound?

The visualization that accompanies the sound is called a spectrogram. This is a frequency vs time representation where the color represents the intensity of the sound.

Will our sensors be able to record speech?

Yes, our sensors may record speech, but SONYC is not interested in the content of that speech (words, phrases). Our only interest is training the sensor to identify a sound as “voice”, as opposed to other sources such as “car”, “dog” or “honk.”

In the interests of privacy, the SONYC project submitted sample recordings for review by independent acoustical consultants Cerami & Associates, who judged them to be unrecognizable as conversation. Nevertheless, the project will clearly post visible signs alerting passers-by of the recording device.

Will SONYC be able to identify individuals whose voices may be recorded?

No, SONYC will not collect any additional information (e.g. photographs or video) that would permit the research team to identify particular individuals. With no additional correlative data to link recorded signals to particular individuals, any incidentally recorded speech will remain de-identified. SONYC will restrict access to the raw audio files to the SONYC research team. The mature sensor network will not record nor transmit the audio signal, and it will be impossible to reconstruct the original audio signal from its output.

What measures will SONYC take to prevent the dissemination of the audio recordings?

Access to the raw audio data captured during the training phase will be restricted. Access will be granted only to authorized members of the research team. Individuals annotating snippets will be given random snippets that are neither sequential in time nor in geographic location. Their only task will be to identify the class of sources (jackhammers, sirens, music, traffic, people, dogs, birds, etc.) they hear in each snippet. Annotators will never be asked to transcribe or further identify anything they hear. Archived raw audio files will be encrypted.