Extraterrestrial sound for planetaria: A pedagogical study

The purpose of this project was to supply an acoustical simulation device to a local planetarium for use in live shows aimed at engaging and inspiring children in science and engineering. The device plays audio simulations of estimates of the sounds produced by natural phenomena to accompany audio-visual presentations and live shows about Venus, Mars, and Titan. Amongst the simulated noise are the sounds of thunder, wind, and cryo-volcanoes. The device can also modify the speech of the presenter (or audience member) in accordance with the underlying physics to reproduce those vocalizations as if they had been produced on the world under discussion. Given that no time series recordings exist of sounds from other worlds, these sounds had to be simulated. The goal was to ensure that the audio simulations were delivered in time for a planetarium's launch show to enable the requested outreach to children. The exercise has also allowed an explanation of the science and engineering behind the creation of the sounds. This has been achieved for young children, and also for older students and undergraduates, who could then debate the limitations of that method.