Sonear is a network of small radio transmitter devices that can be discreetly embedded in public spaces, allowing users to discover and locally broadcast meaningful stories. Each small device broadcasts short-range FM signals—poems, personal anecdotes, or hidden histories—transforming everyday streets into living archives. By tuning in, passersby can uncover a layer of meaning otherwise invisible in the urban noise.
My final year thesis at the National College of Art and Design began with a simple question: how can we encourage more meaningful interactions? Rather than solving a problem, I wanted to create opportunities—moments that invite curiosity and connection in the everyday.
Our cities are often designed for efficiency, not emotion. Sonear aimed to change that by letting people share stories tied to place, and rediscover the overlooked details of their surroundings.
My final year thesis at the National College of Art and Design began with a simple question: how can we encourage more meaningful interactions? Rather than solving a problem, I wanted to create opportunities—moments that invite curiosity and connection in the everyday.
Our cities are often designed for efficiency, not emotion. Sonear aimed to change that by letting people share stories tied to place, and rediscover the overlooked details of their surroundings.
Through research, I found that meaningful interactions often begin with shared knowledge and conversation. Yet modern life limits what we encounter: we scroll, we rush, and our experiences flatten into repetition. Sonear emerged as a way to widen that pool of stories—to make discovery ambient again.
Technically, each transmitter broadcasts via a minimal FM circuit powered by a LiPo battery and loaded through a microSD card. The system’s short range—roughly the length of a street—means some blocks hum quietly with static, while others reveal songs, interviews, or memories recorded by locals.
When Dublin’s North Brunswick Street received its first Sonear installation, historian Eoin Harty’s voice resurfaced forgotten 18th-century tales. In the Liberties, an impromptu pub singsong became an artifact in the air. Near Grogan’s, poet John Moynes’ “Anonymous” drifts between the chatter of passing crowds.
Together, these fragments turn the city into a shared broadcast—hidden, but heard.
Sonear remains one of my defining projects: a synthesis of interaction design, storytelling, and prototyping. It demonstrates how design can weave systems, technology, and emotion into something quietly human.
If you’d like to learn more or read the full design rationale, please get in touch.
