Forest 404 Experiment

We have heard a lot about how environment and green spaces can effect our mood and emotions. This project explores the same question but with sounds. What is the relationship between different sounds and whether they effect our mood? This was the whole theme of Mapping Manchester's Quiet Spaces the link between sound levels and mental health.

The experiment is related to the Forest 404 Podcast which is an eco-thriller about

The Forest 404 Experiment is a research partnership between BBC Radio 4, the BBC Natural History Unit, the University of Bristol, the Open University and the University of Exeter:

Set in the 24th Century following a data crash called The Cataclysm, Timothy X Atack’s thriller follows Pan (Pearl Mackie), a sound archivist who uncovers some sound recordings from the early 21st century that haunt her. They are recordings of rainforests, places which no longer exist, and Pan feels compelled to hunt down the truth about how the forests of the old world died.

They are asking people to take part in this online questionnaire where you are played a grating soundtrack while reading a paragraph describing a bad day. This puts you into a state of stress. Then they play you a range of different sounds and ask you to rate them as to how you experience them.

Click here to visit the Forest 404 Podcast and here to take part in this conservation experiment.