Sound is one of the most powerful carriers of emotion. Whether it is hearing music live at a concert, in a film or through headphones, a song can energise, move, soothe or bring back memories for the listener. This is increasingly recognised in exhibition design and exhibition sound design with careful attention paid to both the content and the technology used.
With its one-of-a-kind bone conduction audio terminals, Losonnante helps bring exhibition designs to life, immersing visitors at the very heart of the scenes before them through inclusive sound experiences.
Exhibition Design and Sound Design for Cultural Spaces
Where museography defines the content, scenography creates the stage, shaping the way visitors engage with art, objects and sound.
Sound design for cultural spaces is a vital part of enhancing the visitor experience. Common solutions include directional speakers, sound showers and audio guides and smartphone apps, each with their own strengths and limitations. A lesser-known option is the bone conduction audio terminal, an innovative solution developed by Losonnante.
Offering a true alternative to traditional audio guides, the Losonnante audio terminal provides immersive listening experiences using museum sound technology that enables visitors to remain aware of their surroundings while fully absorbed in the soundscape.
Exhibition Design and Museography: Different Disciplines, Shared Purpose
To really understand what exhibition scenography is, it helps to distinguish it from its close counterpart, museography.
What is Museography?
Museography is the art of designing and delivering museum exhibitions. It involves:
- Selecting the objects to be displayed and defining the cultural and/or scientific aims.
- Identifying the target audience or audiences.
- Creating a coherent and engaging visitor journey.
- Choosing and using visual, interactive and narrative tools to communicate key information and ideas.
The goal of museography is to create a rich, rewarding experience that showcases collections while helping visitors understand and appreciate the content.
What is Scenography?
Once the works have been chosen and the visitor route designed, it is time to move on to the staging. A scenographer’s role is to design the layout and atmosphere of the exhibition, in much the same way as an architect or theatre director. Depending on the theme and technical requirements, the scenographer works closely with museum curators, exhibition commissioners, or even specialists in urban planning and spatial design.
Today, exhibition scenography calls for a broad skill set, from arranging museum spaces to shaping urban environments and landscapes. It is also used in live performance, television studios, film production and many other creative fields. A scenographer’s responsibilities vary according to the location and the nature of the project, offering a wide and varied scope of work.
A well-executed scenographic design brings together visual, immersive audio for museums, graphic and tactile elements, and may also incorporate lighting effects and even scents where they enhance the experience.
How Scenographers Work with Sound
Sound is a vital part of scenography. Thanks to its immersive audio qualities, it offers a wealth of possibilities and plays a key role in creating memorable public space audio design.
In recent years, a variety of technical solutions for delivering sound in public spaces have emerged. Today, scenographers most commonly turn to:
Sound Showers and Directional Speakers in Exhibition Design
Mounted on walls or overhead, these devices make it possible to deliver audio in a precise, localised way.
However, they do have some limitations:
- Neither sound showers nor directional speakers work effectively outdoors.
- Sound showers are less effective in noisy environments.
- Directional speakers often produce a very high-pitched sound, which can be uncomfortable for the listener.
- Both can cause sound to bounce off certain surfaces, so the acoustics of the space need careful consideration.
Audio Guides, Smartphone Apps and Alternatives to Traditional Audio Guides
Audio guides and smartphone apps remain a staple of self-guided tours. Easy to use, they’ve improved with:
- Semi-open headphones to reduce isolation.
- Binaural headsets for stronger immersion.
- Interactive smartphone apps with maps and multimedia.
But they still depend on headphones or earphones, which can feel isolating and reduce the sense of shared experience, unlike Losonnante’s audio terminals.
Losonnante’s Bone Conduction Audio Terminals: Innovative and Accessible Audio Solutions
Exhibitions today are no longer confined to museums, they appear in libraries, galleries, gardens, churches, landscaped sites, showrooms, and retail spaces. These varied locations demand adaptable immersive sound installations.
To answer this, the Losonnante team developed the world’s only bone conduction audio terminal.
“Our system fully immerses visitors in sound, using an innovative approach to exhibition sound design that creates inclusive sound experiences which are engaging, sensory and enveloping. It opens up new possibilities for scenography audio solutions, encouraging visitors to pause and connect more deeply with art or landscape,” explains Losonnante’s Founder & CEO, Fabien Rolland.
With Losonnante bone conduction, listening is active, not passive. Visitors sit comfortably on bespoke furniture and cover their ears to block out ambient noise, focusing entirely on the work before them. This intentional disconnection from the outside world is an enriching part of the experience, rather than an imposed barrier as it can be with traditional audio guides.
Experience Losonnante Firsthand at the Musée des Cités Immersives in Rouen.
In the city of Rouen, in Northern France, the Museum of Immersive Cities takes visitors on a captivating journey through time, immersing them in the Viking world with an immersive scenographic design.
Since June 2024, the museum has combined 360° projections, reconstructions, and authentic artefacts to transport visitors back a thousand years. With Losonnante immersive sound and its accessible audio solutions, history doesn’t just appear before your eyes, it resonates through you.
