HEARING VOICES 2.1

John Wynne & Robert Munro

About | System requirements | Downloading & unpacking | Startup | Using & navigating | Exit | Cost & availability | Copyright & usage | This version | Authors & contact | Download the app

 

ABOUT

Hearing Voices, is a free interactive multimedia app. Sound artist John Wynne recorded songs, speakers’ personal accounts and interviews in 2003 in collaboration with 8 speakers of 5 Khoi/San languages, visual artist Denise Hawrysio and linguist Andy Chebanne. The app features high quality recordings that capture the extraordinary sounds of these ‘click’ languages. It also presents detailed information about the speakers and their lifestyles, their languages, and language endangerment in general.

Hearing Voices, by John Wynne and Robert Munro, is a free, interactive multimedia app featuring the highly endangered Khoi and San languages of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and Namibia. Recordings and fieldwork by John Wynne in collaboration with visual artist Denise Hawrysio and linguist Andy Chebanne were conducted in 2003 with speakers of 5 different Khoi/San languages: Nicodemus Barkard, Tshabakgotta Igamamoo, Gosaitse Kabatlhophane, Kanokabe//nee//ee, Qgõcgae, Roy Sesana, and Thamae Sobe and Xukuri Xukur. Linguistic advice was provided by Andy Chebanne and Herman Batibo, and there are interviews with Peter Austin and Andy Chebanne. Audio also includes 10 original song recordings. High quality audio highlights the extraordinary audio features of these click languages. All items are accompanied by English translations.

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The app works on Windows (version 10 and others). The original version for Macintosh is not functional in recent versions of MacOS. The current Windows version is 2.1 (September 2015).

You will need about 250 MB of disk space. No special configuration is required although you will require speakers or headphones to enjoy the excellent audio recordings. An Internet connection is required to access some of the peripheral resources (although is not necessary for the app’s main content).

The program can be run directly and requires no installation, other than downloading and unpacking/unzipping the files (see below). For best performance, put all the files into a new, dedicated folder on your computer’s hard drive. No other installation is necessary.

 

DOWNLOADING & UNPACKING

Download the Zip file from the download section below.

Windows

Download the ZIP file, and then unpack it using your Windows utilities or a 3rd party utility such as 7-Zip (free, open Source software available from http://www.7-zip.org). We recommend that you create a new, empty folder (name it something like “Hearing Voices folder”), and unzip (or copy) the contents of the downloaded ZIP file to it.

You can then run Hearing Voices any time by double clicking the application file HearingVoices.exe (or it may appear as just “HearingVoices”), and you may safely delete the original downloaded ZIP file. No special installation process is needed.

To remove Hearing Voices from your computer, simply delete the Hearing Voices folder.

 

STARTUP

To start, double click the application file “HearingVoices” (or “HearingVoices.exe”).

USING AND NAVIGATING

Hearing Voices 2 has been designed principally as a touch screen application. However, it will also work perfectly well on conventional mouse or touchpad machines. The screen does NOT respond to mouse hovering as in traditional applications, but does give clear visual feedback when a valid “hotspot” is activated (a large green circle appears briefly where you touched or clicked).

The emphasis on touchscreen operation means that you will enjoy best use of Hearing Voices if you feel free to touch or click in those areas of screen which look likely (or possibly) to lead to further information, or likely to perform actions (such as play sound).

Here is the main menu screen:

At the bottom right of the screens, you will see a navigation panel. The panel shows you the name of the section you are viewing, and has 3 buttons: “Go back” (to last screen visited), “Go Home (to main menu screen), and “Exit” (see below).

 

EXIT

To quit Hearing Voices, touch or click the green “X” button at the bottom right of the screen. This will offer you an Exit dialog and offer to go to the Credits screen.

COST & AVAILABILITY

Hearing Voices is free for use by individuals and for research and educational purposes. See also the copyright and usage information below. Hearing Voices can be obtained from the publisher, EL Publishing, via download from this page, http://www.elpublishing.org/multimedia/hearing-voices.

 

COPYRIGHT & USAGE

©2015 John Wynne & Robert Munro. This software product may only be downloaded and/or used for personal research or educational purposes. You may not copy, reproduce, sample, reverse-engineer or broadcast in whole or in part in any form whatsoever, without written permission from the authors.

By downloading and/or running the software you are agreeing to and are bound by these conditions.

 

THIS VERSION

This is version 2.1, an update of the second version, released in August/September 2015. The first version was displayed with John Wynne’s Hearing Voices installations but was not made generally available. Version 2 was published in July 2014. This 2.1 update includes revisions to content as well as redesigned audio playing and navigation and several other improvements.

 

AUTHORS AND CONTACT

Hearing Voices was created by John Wynne and Robert Munro. Versions 2.x were re-engineered by David Nathan. Many other people were involved in its production. See above, and the app’s Credits screen, for further details.

For feedback and enquiries about the content or usage of Hearing Voices, please email in the first instance to the software co-ordinator David Nathan (david.j.nathan@gmail.com).

 

Last updated 12th August 2022.