If a tree falls in a forest with nobody around, does it make a noise? In the case of the rainforests equipped with the Rainforest Connection’s Guardian system someone most assuredly will.
Originally created by the people behind the US nonprofit Rainforest Connection (RFCx) using upcycled smartphones to detect the sounds of illegal logging, their project now has grown into something much larger, keeping not only tabs on sounds of illegal activity, but also performing bioacoustic monitoring for scientific purposes.
Currently active in ten countries, the so-called Guardian Platform no longer features smartphones, but custom hardware inside an IP66 weatherproof enclosure and a whole range of communication options, ranging from cellular bands to satellite communications. The petal-shaped solar panels provide the module with up to 30 watts of power, and double as a shield to help protect it from the elements.
Not only is the real-time microphone data incredibly useful for rangers trying to stop illegal logging, it also provides researchers access to countless hours of audio data, which will require detailed, automated analysis. Even better is that if the audio data is available to the general public as well, via their Android & iOS apps (bottom of page), just in case you wanted to hear what that sneaky wildlife in the jungle of Peru is up to right now.
That Guardian Device sure hits multiple spots. Building something that includes serious PV, energy harvesting or a battery that allows it to run for years AND survives the temperature, pressure cycles and harsh weather events is a rite of passage in itself. It’s even possible to get that wrong in commercial projects.
In the early 2000s, mobile coverage and data volume wasn’t as easy to come by, and I kept wanting to build an SSTV wildlife camera. That too is much easier now (https://hackaday.com/2022/11/20/this-standalone-camera-gets-the-picture-through-with-sstv/) than when one was wondering how to get the 320×240 images out of a shoddy webcam.
Even without satellite internet, we can dare to do such nice things today, to travel to even the remotest places with ears and eyes – and why stop there? There are always more dreams in the drawer – send a little rover to another continent, pointing a telescope at the next solar eclipse? Why not take turns piloting a machine that digs water harvesting structures in Texas or searches for mines in Cambodia. Just search for “university rover challenge” and enjoy an endless stream of platform projects looking for a down-to-earth mission.
Okay I’ll get off my soap box :)
Would be nice if everything didn’t require begging google or apple to let you see or hear it nowdays.
Just a simple file ( preferably wav format for these sounds ) that I could listen to via my desktop or laptop, without requiring a &%$#@*$ cell phone in the middle.
“This app could have been an icecast stream” – true, but on the bright side, the Android app works without any permissions.
There’s definitely other software around for exploring the datasets (like “RFCx Explorer” / “Arbimon”) but nothing obvious and advertised as “here’s your 10 hours tropical rain forest for sleep and mediation” streams.
https://clockwise.software/rainforest-connection/
https://github.com/rfcx/arbimon / https://arbimon.org/explore
The best sound recognition system I’ve ever seen is this: (https://web.archive.org/web/20221013115211/https://soundid.net/) Not the same system that goes by SoundID now. The application was originally developed for identifying bird calls but was extended into other areas like identifying structural defects, heart conditions and so on. Probably the most impressive application was to document the call of a parrot that had never been identified–by literally identifying every call recorded over a period. (IIRC week)
I tried to get my company to use the software to identify and classify sound defects (for over 10 years) but they couldn’t get beyond it being used to identify bird calls. Unfortunately, it appears that COVID and/or the lure of retirement took the software off the market.
Nice for answering, “if a tree falls in the forest, and no one’s around, does it make a sound”?
Of course, and why not install microphones in every public place to prevent the affairs of ill-intentioned people? and why not spread them in the streets, where clouds of thieves, robbers and murderers now occupy them? But to simplify further, could they be made mandatory in every room of every house or even better by grafting them into the human body, perhaps in the pharynx so that no hiss can escape control? Of course, it is to be hoped that they are installed in symbiosis with cameras that send data to those who want only our good. It is necessary to know that follies are no longer follies but wisdom dispensed to the masses, and therefore this is welcoming them more and more happily by participating in them and conceiving them with new ones
Wow. When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone, I suppose.
There I’d nobody out there who’s privacy is being infringed upon