OSA EARS is a project designed to provide real time 3D sound and a cloud of species
and climate change data from one of our planet’s most bio-diverse rain forests to
anyone anywhere in the world with internet. A networked array of microphones, web
cams and sensor banks will expand over time to cover OSA Conservation’s entire 5000
acre wildlife corridor, from ground level to canopy top.
Located on Costa Rica’s Osa peninsula OSA EARS will create a broad based platform
for researchers interested in habitat protection, soundscape ecology, remote sensing
and bird song. It will serve as a home base for cutting edge field work, offering an
opportunity to develop and adapt surveillance and sensor technologies for interdisciplinary
wildlife monitoring and protection.
The web site will serve as a platform for user interface innovation, providing incredible
educational possibilities for classrooms worldwide, with streaming audio and the latest
in species identification sonograms. Additional features will include multi-sensor and
video feeds, a user’s forum, and an alarm clock function. Imagine waking up to the real
time sounds of scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, wild cats and insect poly-rhythms.
The OSA EARS project is hosted by OSA Conservation, a widely respected non profit
NGO engaged in a mission to conserve globally-significant biodiversity for future
generations. This location is exceptional on all levels, with vast bio-diversity, stable and
supportive government, low human encroachment and high speed WiFi provided by a
communications tower recently installed for Coast Guard monitoring.
OSA EARS is a collaborative project under the direction of Charles Lindsay. Lindsay is
an artist who works with technology, and an environmental advocate, having spent
years in southeast Asia concentrating on issues related to tribal peoples, rain forests
and green turtles. He is now the SETI Institute’s first artist in residence, a Guggenheim
Fellow, recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Residency and artist in Residence at
Imagine Science Films. He recently addressed the DARPA funded 100 Year Starship
Symposium and the 2014 class of Rhodes scholars in Oxford.
OSA EARS is seeking technical and engineering assistance to develop and integrate
affordable monitoring, processing, network, and display systems that must operate long
term in harsh climates. The project requires short duration seed financing and long term
sustainable fiscal resources.
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For specific information concerning fiscal and/or technical participation in the OSA EARS program please email us here: project-director@osa-ears.org
OSA EARS TEAM
Program Director Charles Lindsay
OSA Conservation Secretary Adrian Forsyth
OSA Conservation Executive Director Manuel Ramirez
GoPro Drone pilot and Digital Artist Markley Boyer
Land Conservation Manager Max Villalobos
Science Program Manger Juan Carlos Cruz Diaz
Cerro Osa Station Manager Larry Villalobos
Staff Ornithologist Pablo Porras
Research Assistant + Night Guide Manuel Sanchez
Platform Builder John Kelson
Advising Architect Allan Shope
Systems Advisor Paul Roossin
3D + Binaural Sound Advisor Edgar Choueiri
Systems Advisor Randall Steeb
Project Advisor Charles Conn
Costa Rica Liason Hernán Jimenez
Concept, Field Recordings, Video Charles Lindsay
Additional Bird Song Recordings Jeff Woodman
Artistic Advisor Catherine Chalmers
For general information and complete staff directory please visit osaconservation.org or contact us by email here info@osa-ears.org For media coverage or content licensing please email us here: media@osa-ears.org
(A Spanish language version of this video is now live on Vimeo. The audio streaming web site is in development. Please stay tuned :)
osa-ears.org