What is Location Audio?

Location Audio is a way of anchoring stories in any location, telling the story of the place, or bring you into another world while in a familiar location!

We anchor an immersive audio trail of music/ stories/soundtrack at various points in a chosen location using the SonicMaps Locative Audio platform. SonicMaps is a progressive web app that works seamlessly with your browser- no need to download from an App store.

When you click/scan the SonicMaps trail link on your smartphone, and enable GPS services, you will open the immersive audio trail. To install the SonicMaps app, add a shortcut/icon to your homescreen for a full screen native-like experience.

When you click “Start” you will see your position on the Trail. As you walk from one location to another, new tracks trigger automatically. You can stream the trail as you walk, or you can download it at home or at the start of your walk, to save on data.

You can walk at a normal constant pace, or linger to hear the full tracks. It’s completely up to you. The trails are designed so that you are walking on paths but you can linger longer in the some areas, where there are sculptures & interesting things to see!

To have the best audio experience, and to avoid annoying other pedestrians, we recommend that you wear headphones while on the immersive audio trail.

Each audio trail features clear instructions on where to go, at the start and during the experience.

We ask that you are conscious of your own and others’ safety when on an immersive audio trail. Please take special care when crossing busy roads, and watch your footing on uneven surfaces.

If you have issues enabling the GPS on your phone, please check our frequently asked questions below. If you can’t solve the issue, it is possible to activate ‘listener mode’ on the trail, where you manually trigger the audio as you walk.

We would love to hear your feedback and ideas for trails and other location audio experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions...

  • When you first open the Sonic Maps player app, you should see a pop-up window asking for permission to use your precise location.
  • Once you accept and a GPS fix is obtained, your location should be displayed on the map as a small blue circle.
  • If this is not the case, please make sure GPS and location services are enabled and your browser has permission to use this service. On some operating systems, permissions are now granted on a per app basis instead of being a global setting.
  • Please check this troubleshooting guide for further information.
  • An Internet connection is required to fetch a project data from the Sonic Maps server before it can be experienced by a user. However, once a project is loaded in the Sonic Maps player, it is possible to download all the projects data, including audio files and relevant map tiles to the browser’s cache storage so it can be later experienced without the Internet connection.
  • Even if cellular Internet connection is available, you might want to pre download your project while on Wi-Fi to avoid data charges and reduce loading times.
  • As a Progressive Web App, the SonicMaps Player runs in any modern browser.
  • The first time you visit the Player, some browsers will prompt you to install the app as an icon on your device’s home screen so it can be used like any other native app, including full-screen visualisation and off-line capabilities.
  • Currently, recommended browsers are Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS, both providing a nearly identical experience. Firefox or Edge should also operate without issues.
  • Audio tracks are assigned to sound areas along a prescribed route.
  • Once you have loaded the walk onto your phone, plug in your headphones.
  • Start walking!
  • When you enter a sound area, the locational GPS information from your phone triggers the sound to start automatically.
  • You can continue to walk at a normal pace.
  • In some areas you will be encouraged to linger – e.g. at the start of the trail.
  • If you re-enter the same sound area, the same track restarts.
  • To avoid this, change your screen time out settings in Settings<Display
  • We recommend that you install the Sonicmaps player app as an icon on your device’s home screen so it can be used like any other native app. This will avoid the screen timeout issue.
  • During each track in the Sonicmaps app, an information screen with the track description appears.
  • At the bottom of your screen is a picture Icon.
  • Click the icon to see your position on the trail map, and click it again to return to the description.
  • There may be some repetition if you vary from the suggested trail route.
  • If you would like to hear the tracks again go ahead, but if you would rather not hear them again, feel free to either press pause, or exit the trail – we won’t mind!
  • The soundwalk has been designed to be experienced at an average walking pace.
  • If you walk slower that average, there will be slightly longer gaps between audio tracks.
  • If you walk faster than average, there is a very slight chance that some tracks may overlap, as certain tracks are programmed to play to the end, even if you exit the sound zone! 
  • If this happens, enjoy the cacophany, it shouldn’t last more than a minute or so!
  • We love to hear your feedback on all aspects of the walk.
  • Tell us what you liked, what we could improve, and feel free to share ideas on other soundwalk ideas you may have. You can e-mail us directly at iverniamusicberlin@gmail.com or use the feedback form below.