海角大神

From聽an eerily quiet Times Square in New York to聽cheers聽for health care workers, a website is collecting聽sounds to document聽how聽coronavirus聽has transformed spaces around the globe.

Dozens of people聽from聽more than 25 countries have shared audio recordings聽from聽their daily lives during the pandemic for the #StayHomeSounds project by the聽sound聽mapping website聽Cities聽and Memory.

"The way the world聽sounds has changed really dramatically in just a few weeks," said project founder Stuart Fowkes in a telephone interview聽from聽his home near Oxford in England.

"It's really important that we recognize that and record it for posterity, but that we also get the stories as well 鈥� what people are thinking and feeling at the same time."

With many countries imposing lockdowns or other restrictions to combat the spread of the virus,聽cities聽have seen buzzing tourist centers suddenly empty and the聽sounds of nature emerge as traffic noise recedes.

The #StayHomeSounds project was set up a week ago and aims to document the epidemic through crowdsourced聽sound聽clips聽from聽around the globe, which are shared on a聽map聽showing where they were recorded and some details of the story behind them.

All that can be heard in the entertainment hub of Times Square is the drone of building air conditioning units, while other clips include a woman in Finland recording a story for young relatives, and聽birdsong聽in Poland.

News outlets around the globe have shared how the pandemic has allowed nature to take over cities. Earlier in March, reported that in Venice, the hundreds of canals that were now free of motorboat taxis are filling with crabs, fish, and plant-life as the clarity of the water improves dramatically.聽

Sound聽has also been a way for people to connect despite their isolation, with recordings of people joining together to cheer for health care workers聽from聽the Spanish capital Madrid through to Lima in Peru.聽

Mr. Fowkes said he hoped the recordings would help evoke life during the epidemic for the future, and that the project would also help people take a virtual trip around the world even if they remain stuck at home.

The U.K.-based sound artist told that he hopes his project will capture what the world sounds like:聽

鈥淭his is obviously a unique moment in our lifetimes, and that鈥檚 being reflected in sound too 鈥� our towns and cities have never sounded like they do under the global lockdown,鈥� Mr. Fowkes said in a statement. 鈥淵ou can hear it in everything from simple things like less traffic, or how we can now hear more birdsong and wildlife, through to how people all over the world are coming together through song and music.鈥�

Visitors to the site can click a point on the map to hear sounds recorded there and see a brief description. If they wish, they can also submit recordings from where they鈥檙e sheltering from the virus, using their phones and a form posted to the site. (Mr. Fowkes urges participants not to leave their homes or other safe places just to capture sound).

Other collections of audio in the City and Memories project include the聽聽around the world, recordings of聽, the distinctive聽, and religious聽聽from an assortment of cultures.

"While you are on lockdown, you can at least do a bit of sonic tourism," Mr. Fowkes told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"[You can] see what other people are hearing around the world and also read their stories and see that actually people are feeling similarly ... hopefully that helps to make us feel a little bit more connected."

This story was reported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Material from FastCompany and The Guardian was used in this report.聽

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