In the first stage of the ideation, we can put forward an idea of using moving devices to collect the voice of the hometown, people can listen to the sound of the their hometown through the real time satellite signal. After discussion, we think that this idea needs to have further iterations, and we should emphasises the role of the satellite technology in our design.
quantitative research
1. We found that people are usually feel homesick at night when they were alone, and they said they we are homesick most when they are in a living place and a natural environment.
2.Regarding to In what context do you feel most Homesick, people said that when they feel lonely and helpless and sick, they miss their hometown very much. And some old photos as well as folk music will remind them of their hometown.
3.We also asked participants to fill in three sounds that they thought were closely related to homesickness. Many of them mentioned the language of their hometown and the sounds of everyday life in their hometown. Some of them missed the sounds of the natural environment in their hometown, such as the sound of seagulls on the beach in Florida.
qualitative research
Many respondents mentioned that they missed the sound of their families and the specific sounds of their hometown, such as the music of the local bar; the sound of the river by the country cottage and the sound of typhoon.
We got some insight from our questionnaire and interview:
-- People miss certain sounds from home, and they think these sounds can help them relieve their homesickness.
-- Living places and natural environments make it easier for people to get homesick feeling.
-- People are most likely to feel homesick on quiet nights when they are alone or when they meet difficulties.
Desk research
Research by HSBC (2019) shows the majority of international students are using technology like video calls, Instagram, WeChat and WhatsApp (97 percent) to connect with friends and family – but this doesn’t stop them from missing home.
Ninety-two percent of international students say that they miss the familiarities of home while studying overseas, with almost six in 10 (57 percent) saying it’s the sensory experience they miss most and three quarters (74 percent) specifically missing the sounds of their hometown. International students identified the sound of people talking in their native language (50 percent), the hustle and bustle of local markets (26 percent), the rumble of public transport (25 percent) and birds, insects or native animals (20 percent) as the sounds they are most likely to miss.
According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, there are nearly 1 million students studying in the US from abroad. To help these international students, as well as those studying in other parts of the globe, achieve their goals and feel connected to home, HSBC has released Sounds of Home, a series of global soundscapes, crowd-sourced and created by international influencers. The tracks feature sounds such as a traditional clapping exercise in Taiwan, India’s Temple Bhajan, a durian seller in Singapore, and the waves of Malaysia’s Pantai beach. Each will be available on YouTube here and on all major music streaming channels (e.g. Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal). HSBC also captured the process behind recording and compiling these evocative sounds.
A study of "How radio boosts consumer happiness" conducted by Sparkler Research for the RAB in Spring 2011, the researcher found that people's Happiness increases as the day progresses, but Energy peaks during the daytime when people are most active, falling in drive-time as a sense of exhaustion sets in, only to rise again as spirits lift in the evening.
Interestingly, Energy levels are highest during the week. While Happiness levels show a peak on Saturdays, Energy shows a very clear fall across the whole weekend, as people take the opportunity to relax and recharge their batteries ready for the following week.
The data so far has demonstrated that all three researched media generate uplifts in people’s levels of Energy and Happiness, but of course this is not to suggest that they are all playing the same role in people’s lives.
Given that Television’s central role lies in the area of escapism and entertainment, it’s perhaps surprising that it does not score highest of the three media for generating increases in happiness. Evidence suggests this may be because the key strength of TV – its ability to transport you elsewhere – brings with it an inevitable flat feeling when you return to the real world. And whilst live ‘event’ TV (such as X-Factor) is undeniably incredibly powerful content, it is simply not possible to sustainably fill the schedules with this genre of programming in today’s multi-channel 24-hour TV broadcasting world. These results suggest that the reality of day-to-day TV programming has less effect on the viewer’s mood than perhaps anticipated.
Secondly, the nature of radio programming also plays a role. Rather than the peaks and troughs that people claimed to experience with TV and Online, Radio provides a consistent environment-themed and shaped to suit the listener’s needs at any given time of day, and one that is generally upbeat in tone.
By serving different listener needs to on-demand services, live radio remains the dominant format accounting for around three-quarters of all time spent with audio.
Live radio is unique because it offers the human voice and human choice and retains the ability to surprise. Radio also connects us to the outside world – both by keeping us in the loop and by providing a reason to talk to the people around us. It can help people feel connected to the wider world.
Now, with the rise of new audio formats such as podcasts and streaming music services, listeners have more options than ever before. The rise of multiple-function mobile devices (formally known as phones) and the fact that audio content is “device neutral” for the most part, means that people can listen to almost anything about their hometown, anywhere, and at any time. We think it's a convenient way to help people to express their homesickness.
How Satellite radio works？
XM Radio's ground station transmits a signal to its two active GEO satellites, which bounce the signals back down to radio receivers on the ground. The radio receivers are programmed to receive and unscramble the digital data signal, which contains more than 170 channels of digital audio. In addition to the encoded sound, the signal contains information about the broadcast. The song title, artist and genre of music are all displayed on the radio. In urban areas, where buildings can block out the satellite signal, XM's broadcasting system is supplemented by ground transmitters.
Iteration
Many things can link us to home. People, specific places, and objects can all trigger feelings of nostalgia, but one particular sense is powerful when it comes to memory, it is sound.
Homesickness can be both a positive and negative thing, it just depends on personal perspective. We can keep homesickness on the happy side of the street and take a moment to reflect on love and warmth and appreciate the good times. Then, move forward and make more memories. You can always look back on them fondly later on down the road.
We think that we were able to build an emotional bridge between people and their hometowns rely on the radio. Through our satellite broadcasting platform, people can hear the real-time sound in the sound library of their hometown and they also can create their own hometown music to express their homesickness.
Reference
Ingram, A. and Barber, M., 2006. An Advertiser's Guide to Better Radio Advertising: Tune in to the Power of the Brand Conversation Medium. John Wiley & Sons.
Rusu-Păsărin, G., 2014. Approaches to local broadcasting: insights from the Romanian public radio experience and policymaking. Revista de Științe Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques, (44), pp.113-122.