# City Ditty: An Inmersive Soundscape Sketchpad for Professionals of the Built Environment
## 2 Requirements Gathering, Design, and Development
### User Needs Assessment  
The workshop, entitled \"Co-designing soundscapes of public spaces: Integrating new technologies and approaches\", was a one-day event with 25 PBEs from both the public and private sector [13; 15]. The PBEs were divided into three groups and rotated between three main activities: (1) focus groups, (2) a collaborative soundscape design activity with an in-house built audio-only simulator (the third iteration tool [13]), and (3) a hands-on tech demo area which had numerous existing sound-planning tools and immersive experiences to try. The focus groups are the primary source of information for this analysis, although it is supported by observational data from the tech demo room and collaborative design exercise. Full description and results of the collaborative design exercise are available [13]. The tech demo rooms were full of different existing tools and devices for participants to try as they pleased, including (1) 360-degree videos on both smartphone-based VR (an iPhone 6) and an HTC Vive Pro VR system with a sample of urban soundscapes recorded with a first-order Ambisonic microphone (Soundfield ST350) and Insta360 Pro camera to demonstrate both high and low-end playback resolutions on different quality devices; (2) 3D-rendered content of a public space focusing on transit created by Arup, viewed through several Oculus Go VR sets; (3) an archeology-based 3D recreation of a Paris soundscape from 17 th century titled 'Bretez', presented on a laptop [44]; (4) an audio-only demo of noise barrier interventions using acoustic modeling software MithraSON and Micado, on laptop; and (5) a traversable 3D rendering of Piazza Vittoria in Naples, Italy [35] on laptop with two sets of headphones, allowing single or pairs of participants at once. A researcher was assigned to each technology and took notes on how the participants reacted to the demos. Focus groups were transcribed and coded following a grounded theory approach [45] to support an inductive analysis. Additionally, observations were gathered during the tech demo and collaborative soundscape design activities. Together, these produced the themes from the axial coding process, topped by the need for new tools as the overarching theme. Note that two groups were held in French, and one in English; supporting quotes from French are translated and provided in English in italics. Seeking Better Sound-Planning Tools  
All focus groups acknowledged that they lack adequate tools for considering soundscapes in the early stages of their work, and that relying on the decibel level alone was universally recognized as insufficiently capturing the entire sound experience, e.g., (1) \"_Our benchmark measure is 55 dB, but that is not necessarily realistic in the sense that everyone believesthat as soon as we exceed this level, it becomes a nuisance when it is not necessarily the case_\"; (2) _\"a swimming pool pump at night, yes, is perceived as very disturbing, while no one realizes it by day_\"; (3) _\"Even at the regulatory level, at the municipal level, we do not have the regulatory tools or the laws that come, which allow us to govern, precisely, adequately, anyway, I would say. So, and even in our constructions, we don't think about it, acoustics\"_. After experiencing the collaborative soundscape design activity (using the audio-only soundscape simulator), some users reported a high degree of interest in such new tools for sound design. _\"I think in terms of design, that would be very interesting as a tool. I even think in terms of--especially large-scale projects at the level of in town planning or in development--this is something that would be super useful, and in fact, I was impressed\"_. Even those who had some experience expressed an interest for better tools. _\"I know that we do exercises with virtual or augmented reality for in terms of consultation. It was not necessarily what we see today, but I think in terms of planning, it would be super useful\"_.