WTPh? (What the Phonics) – Pronouncing street names in Denmark

Created by by Momo Miyazaki and Andrew Spitz at the CIID, WTPh? (What the Phonics) is an installation which helps passers-by to learn the correct way to pronounce street names in Denmark.

Street names in Denmark are close to impossible for foreigners to pronounce, so we did a little intervention in the touristic areas of Copenhagen. We recorded a Danish person speaking the street names then split up each syllable. In true karaoke style, we placed lights above the matching syllable so that in real-time, you can see which part of the word is being spoken. When participants lift the speaker off the wall, it starts playing.

The team used Max/MSP and Arduino to build the installation. This project was made during the Systems and Layers module at CIID and was run by Adam Greenfield and Engin Ayaz.

Momo Miyazaki | Andrew Spitz