In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are bringing you a special episode of the Gensler Design Exchange focused on the impact of sound in health and wellness. In this episode, Gensler’s health and wellness leader, Tama Duffy Day, speaks with ambient electronic musician Yoko Sen, whose research on noise in hospitals and its effects on stress, health, and healing for both patients and physicians alike led the two women to later collaborate on “tranquility rooms” for hospital employees at the Johns Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub.
In 2014, Yoko Sen was hospitalized due to health complications. As a musician, the dissonant sounds of beeps and alarms paired with the distressed chatter around her, disturbed her. After being released from the hospital, the experience stayed with her. Soon after, she formed Sen Sound to research and offer cost-effective, human-centered products and services that transform the sound experience in hospitals by captivating the senses and using technology as a means to re-connect people with nature and enhance wellbeing.
