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Microsoft Soundscape

Quiz time with Microsoft Soundscape

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Hi everyone, it seems that one of the most popular activities during this Coronavirus lockdown is the good old-fashioned quiz. We have written a few blogs with Soundscape tips over the last couple of weeks, so we thought now would be a good time to put some of this newfound knowledge to the test, and also to summarise what we have shared so far.

If you wanted to have a quick refresher of the blogs before you take the quiz, here they are:

To make things a little interesting, we’ve split the quiz into two parts! Starting off with some straightforward questions, you can then move onto ones that are a little more challenging! Do remember though… this is just for fun, and hopefully it will help refresh a few things you’ve learnt about Soundscape from using it and reading our blogs!

Right then, let’s get started. You can check your answers at the bottom of this article.

The warm-up questions

Question 1: What is the easiest way to find your nearest Bus Stop?

Question 2: When listening to the audio beacon, and your chosen destination is behind you, how does the sound of the beacon differ compared with when you are facing it?

Question 3: If you want to repeat a callout that you just heard; how would you do this?

Question 4: For English speaking users, how many different voices can they choose from?

Question 5: Which of these places is furthest away from you? “Helsinki” in Finland, “Sao Paulo” in Brazil, “Tokyo” in Japan, or “Lisbon” in Portugal?

Well, that wasn’t too bad was it! If you want to take a break before tackling the next lot of questions and come back to them later, then by all means do so!

The slightly harder questions

Question 6: Other than the “All Places” filter, how many other different filters are there in Soundscape for nearby places and can you name them all?

Question 7: What are two ways for finding your way home using an audio beacon?

Question 8: When setting an audio beacon, Soundscape has a list called “Recents”. What is the maximum number of places displayed in this list?

Question 9: What is the difference between the “Sleep” and “Snooze” modes in Soundscape?

Question 10: How do you set an audio beacon on an intersection between two roads?

Before you look below to check the answers, there is one final bonus question for you all.

Bonus item: What has been your favourite experience(s) when using Soundscape?
Please send us your responses to soundscapefeed@microsoft.com, and let us know if we may share them with our community. We plan to collate them into a blog of their own. For example, share with us how you had fun with Soundscape, or how Soundscape helped you with a particular challenge, or any other tips and tricks that you think other Soundscape users would love to know about.

 

Now for the answers…read below!

Answer 1: Select the “Public Transit” filter and all public transit points of interest will appear in the list with the nearest at the top. The list will include bus stops if they are nearby.

Answer 2: After setting an audio beacon on your chosen place or destination, when you are facing it the sound of the beacon is higher and you will hear more beats in the rhythm of the sound. As you turn round and start to face away from the beacon, the rhythm decreases, and the sound becomes lower.

Answer 3: Look at the callout history at the bottom of the Home screen and select the “repeat” button. Microsoft Soundscape will play the callout again for you.

Answer 4: There are 4 English speaking voices. They are “Jess”, “Adam”, “Jack” and “Megan”.

Answer 5: This is a trick question as it depends on where you live! To find out, select the “Set Audio Beacon” button and the “Search” option to find out which of these places is furthest away.

Answer 6: Currently there are 5 additional filters in Soundscape: Public Transit, Food & Drink, Things to Do, Groceries, and Banks & ATMs. Here’s a screenshot illustrating the filters:

Screenshot illustrating the 5 additional filters in Soundscape: Public Transit, Food & Drink, Things to Do, Groceries, and Banks & ATMs

Answer 7: Create a Marker at the location of your Home and name it accordingly. Do this by being at home, and then selecting the option to add a Marker at the “Current Location”. Whenever you are away from home and you need to get back, simply set an Audio Beacon on this Markers and Soundscape will help you to find your way back. The second way is to search for your home address and set an Audio Beacon on it.

Answer 8: A maximum 5 places. Whenever you search for a new place, or create a new marker, it will be added to the list of “Recents”. The oldest item in the list will be replaced by the newest item. There are never more than 5 places displayed in the list.

Answer 9: Both modes are accessible from the top right corner of the Soundscape Home screen. Both modes will save battery power when you want to temporarily stop using Soundscape. When you select the “Sleep” button and go into “Sleep mode”, Soundscape will stop downloading data and looking for location information. You can only exit “Sleep mode” by manually selecting the “Wake Up Now” button. To “Snooze”, you have to select the “Wake on Leave” button instead. Soundscape will continue to use GPS in a lower power mode and will automatically wake up after you have left your current location.

Screenshot snippet illustrating the Sleep and Snooze buttons on Soundscape

Answer 10: Select “Set Audio Beacon”, and in the Search box enter the names of the two roads separated by the word “and”. E.g. “NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way”

Screenshot snippet illustrating the Search feature

Thank you,
Frazier and Steven from the Microsoft Soundscape team


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