Due to schedulling reasons, the keynote by Petra Maria Meyer unfortunately had to be cancelled.
 
Individually designed ring tones, specially designed car engine sounds’, voice synthesis, cinematic Dolby Surround systems and the new market for audio books mark the growing significance of the audible. The ubiquitous presence of acoustic phenomena and an irrefutably expanding need to design sound in a whole range of fields allow an 'acoustic turn' to be spoken of. Although this ‘turn’ took place long ago in media and artistic terms, it hasn’t yet been subject to sufficient scientific enquiry. Petra Maria Meyer presents a survey of the interdisciplinary diversity of this acoustic realm and its attendant phenomena. The intent behind the title of her comprehensive publication, Acoustic Turn (2007), is however, by no means to put the act of hearing at the top of a hierarchical scale of the senses; rather, it's a matter here of taking stock of the specific performative values and effective impact of acoustic phenomena, also in the audiovisual context.