We gained a lot of insight and feedback from the DM lab presentation both pratical and conceptual in terms of meeting accessibility needs.
Cones over the sensor to make them more precise so that as you get further from the sensor, the sensor next to it doesn’t pick that up as a signal.
Colours to distinguish each sensor or clearer labelling of each sensor perhaps even braille for use in a sensory room for people with severe learning difficulties.
Most people seem very engaged with the sensor element and how they could be used to control other things such as though midi to map onto other instruments and effects, even lights. So perhaps making a standalone sound sampler was not the best direction.
Perhaps also adding more recognisable instrumental sounds would engage more people. The possibility of using these distance sensors to create a virtual string instrument where the pitch can be controlled. Or more droney sounds like a Didgeridoo!
Adding other more advanced control inputs too such as brain wave reader, eye tracking
Finally, somebody raised a profound point that only after relistening do I fully understand has struck me: that we need to consider more about how power, normativity and access barriers reassert themselves in our process (even in what our definition of a soundscape is). Instead of removing barriers so that someone can participate in what already exists, remove barriers so that someones participation can actively change the field and what its understood to be.