Student’s ‘voice box’ to preserve memories

Isaac Gibson, a sonic arts researcher, came up with the idea of creating a box of voice recordings when his terminally-ill grandfather, William Crockard, was living with the family in 2018.

The 25-year-old from Annahilt said: “He always had a story to tell, they could go on for hours, I had the idea one day to sit down and record these stories.

“The shame of it is you could record him each and every day and there would be a new story each time.

“I happened just to capture the couple of hours I sat down with him.

“There were stories about his family, his brothers, skipping school, hijinks, things like that. They were quite humorous, talking about not stealing, but borrowing, a pony and taking it for a ride, it was probably quite normal back then.”

Isaac continued: “When he passed away, I took the recordings and combined them with music and sound design and put it into a small personalised wooden box to give to my mum as a gift.

“She had no idea that I had done any of this, and her reaction was an indication of the enormous potential that personalised listening experiences could offer to family members and patients in a similar situation. That’s when I had the idea for the ‘From My Perspective’ project.”

Isaac is studying a PhD looking at ‘Creative Arts for Palliative Care’ based at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, a project which involves recording interviews with day hospice patients.

He said: “The main hospice I was working at was Marie Curie, I was able to do this with 10 participants over the summer, it was a great experience.

“I combine elements of their voice, music, and sound design into a memory box which can then be played back through the device’s in-built speakers.

“My aim was for the recording to last around 40 minutes to an hour, so I’d maybe record up to two hours and I’d edit it down to the best bits and cut out the bits where I was talking. I’d also give them the option to have the full unedited version.

“Some patients want to use this as an opportunity to leave an advance directive regarding personal matters, whereas others wanted to use it as an opportunity to leave a memento that can be shared amongst family and used to help facilitate communication and shared experiences.

“My hope for this project is that someday it could be implemented as a full-time service within hospices around the world.”

Isaac’s work will be showcased at Belfast Imagine Festival in conjunction with Marie Curie Hospice on March 23.