Evaluating an Online Interactive Soundscape Platform for Environmental Communication: User Perceptions and Engagement

Soundscapes offer an innovative approach to promoting environmental communication and awareness through immersive auditory experiences that engage emotional, cognitive, and ecological dimensions. The study is part of a broader initiative that explores how soundscapes can support environmental perception and ecological sensitivity through innovative multimedia applications. It examines how users evaluate an online interactive soundscape platform and explores the relationships between platform perceptions, demographic characteristics, outdoor engagement, and pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours. An online questionnaire was completed by 251 participants following interaction with an interactive soundscape tour of Lake Orestiada in Kastoria, Greece. The platform was evaluated across eight dimensions: efficiency, usability, learnability, satisfaction, navigation, content, interactivity, and design. Overall, participants evaluated the platform positively, with strong interrelationships among the evaluation dimensions. Demographic differences were limited: age was associated with usability, while regional population size was associated with usability and navigation, with small effect sizes. Outdoor engagement showed small positive associations with several platform dimensions, particularly efficiency, learnability, satisfaction, navigation, and content. Stronger pro-environmental behaviours, environmental knowingness, and environmental attitudes were positively associated with all platform evaluation dimensions, with satisfaction, navigation, and interactivity showing particularly notable relationships. The findings suggest that online interactive soundscape platforms can provide a positive user experience and are associated with environmental engagement, particularly among users with stronger environmental orientations.