Sound-led visitor experience design

Turn your exhibition into a story visitors can hear, feel and remember.

Sphere of Sound designs and delivers the complete listening experience for museums and heritage sites, from visitor journey to on-site testing, working with the partners you already have.

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A different starting point

Most audio guides inform. Few make people feel where they are.

01

Visitors skim

Visitors stay with the story.

02

Information without emotion

Meaning that is felt, not just read.

03

Audio bolted on late

Sound designed into the visitor journey from the start.

What you get

One specialist, the whole listening experience.

We shape visitor journey and narrative pacing, direct and cast voices, compose music, create sound design, produce spatial and binaural audio, prepare accessible versions, implement with your existing platform, and test and tune on site.

One responsible partner, without adding complexity for your museum.

Listen

Hear how place becomes part of the story.

A short example will let you assess the work directly, without a sales presentation.

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00:00 / —

Use headphones. No autoplay.

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How we work with your team

Clear from first question to opening day.

We plug into your existing technology and partners. Nothing needs to be replaced.

  1. 01

    Tell us about your exhibition

    Share the route, opening date, audiences and current partners.

  2. 02

    Receive a clear first scope

    We respond with a timeline and budget range. [CONFIRM: response time]

  3. 03

    Design and produce together

    We work alongside your exhibition designer, AV supplier and platform.

  4. 04

    Test before opening

    We listen on site and include agreed revisions before delivery.

Selected work

Relevant experience, stated precisely.

The Bayeux Tapestry exhibition gallery at the British Museum

British Museum — Bayeux Tapestry

Exhibition audio-guide sound design and audio production, with Tapart.

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Visitors listening in the Oorlog Dichtbij exhibition

Oorlog Dichtbij

ISA Award 2025 winner.

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Bird displays in the Van Pool tot Paradijs exhibition at Amelander Museum

Stichting Amelander Musea — Van Pool tot Paradijs

A bird-exhibition audio tour with a scripted narrator, field recordings across five Ameland biotopes, voice casting and studio direction.

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The AKU installation at Art Basel Miami with large-scale projected worlds

Art Basel Miami — AKU

Spatial sound design and audio composition for large-scale visual projection environments, synchronising spatial sound with generative visual worlds.

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Why Sphere of Sound

Design the visitor state before designing the sound.

Sphere of Sound is Jelmer Althuis’s Sound-Led Experience Design studio in Groningen. Using the State Design Framework—intention, physiology, dramaturgy and integration—we design what a visitor should feel and understand at each point of the route, and then build the sound to achieve that.

Spatial and binaural production, accessibility and implementation are capabilities in service of that outcome, never the starting point.

A low-risk next step

State Design Audit

€2,950

After an initial fit check, the audit turns your exhibition ambition into a practical direction for sound before full production begins.

  • Visitor intention and desired response
  • Physiology and conditions for listening
  • Dramaturgy across the route
  • Integration with your team and technology

Production is scoped separately by route length, languages, production level and implementation.

Frequently asked

Practical questions, clearly answered.

Can you work with our existing platform or AV supplier?+

Yes. We work alongside your exhibition designer, AV supplier and audio-guide platform. We assess the setup early and design for it. Nothing needs to be replaced.

Our exhibition designer is already appointed. Is that a problem?+

No. Sphere of Sound joins the existing team as the specialist responsible for the listening experience, without duplicating another partner’s role.

How early should we involve you?+

Ideally during concept or design, while the visitor journey can still be shaped. We can also join later, provided scope, access and testing time allow it.

What does it cost?+

The State Design Audit is €2,950. Production depends on route length, languages, production level and implementation. After the enquiry we provide a clear initial budget range.

Do visitors need special equipment?+

Not necessarily. The right setup depends on the experience and your existing technology. We recommend only what the visitor journey requires.

Can you produce accessible versions?+

Yes. Accessible versions are planned as part of the same production, rather than treated as a late addition.

Project enquiry

Tell us about your exhibition.

Send us the basics and we’ll come back with a clear initial scope, timeline and budget range, not a vague sales call.

Enquiries are sent securely. No newsletter or automated sequence.