transport

Reflection

The first class was a class about awareness. I realized there are many people that feel a certain fear when moving between public transport. I came in with no expectations but at the end I could not help but wonder if there exists a perfect world where marginalized groups could finally feel safe in public.

The second and third class amplified this thought for me. Gabriel's lecture on his project about school gyms was very relatable once more. I also have a condition that physically holds me back from performing sports activities competitively with others in a classroom. I'd rather not name which but the result was that I always ended up as the far last. Some teachers were very understanding and would allow me to stop if I was about to collapse. Others did not care. I absolutely dreaded those classes and still have nightmares.

We took this a step further next. What if we were disabled? How would it feel to be blind? I wanted to lead our walk because I did not want our potential leader to pick dangerous spots such as stairs or roads with traffic for our "blind" group. I felt a little scared and got rid of that fear by wearing the mantle myself. Nobody else raised their hand apparently. It all checked out. I got thanked shortly after our walk by a classmate for avoiding cars. It was quite nice. We got prejudiced a few times during our walk. Others may not know this but there were people looking at us weirdly everywhere and even taking out their phones. Rude. Who gave them permission to film us?

Sociology pushed me to think about the macro and this module became no exception. Illustration pushed me to think about the role of artists and how we could make the world a better place. I most likely won't become a full-time social artist myself despite all this. Working with these sensitive topics too much as a queer person of color would probably make me feel gloomy. It is nice realizing now that the opportunity exists however.

Who is behind this voice?

Tuffie Vos (to the right) is a Dutch voice actress and singer. She has been the voice for the Dutch NS announcements for 25 years! We could hear her in every train station previously but she's been replaced by Karin van As (to the left) as of 2021. Karin van As is a Dutch voice actress as well.

It is likely that Tuffie Vos retired from this job. Manually recording voice lines is no longer necessary after all. The NS is using a new text-to-speech technology for automatic station broadcasting. We are in an age where we can adjust pre-recorded messages that fit to our situations. This cuts manual labor by a lot of hours and extra work. It begs the question once more whether our work is indeed slowly being replaced by robots & machinery.

The NS in their quest to look for a fitting voice decided that this voice has to be soothing and clear. These voices always bring the bad news after all. They saw a motherly figure in the voices of both Tuffie Vos and Karin van As and go as far as to claim that these voices calm the negative brainwaves and emotions inside someone. Is that truly the case?

We simply cannot agree. We heard the opposite in these voices. A robotic & cold presence. Now with the new text-to-speech technology we feel like it makes the NS voice even colder than before. The NS voice is devoid of any emotion and does not make me more comfortable upon hearing that a train is delayed.

Research shows that voice assistants are always female. Think of Alexa and Cortana for instance. Two modern examples. Automated voices do come with a male option nowadays but the gender stereotype of women in service and women being more trustful than their male counterpart has already been established. This can be harmful. Why should we trust a person more or less based on their perceived gender?

The preference for female voices has been disputed by now. The assumptions surrounding the idea that female voices are easier to hear have been proven to be false. One poll by Harris Interactive (a market research firm) for example has found out that 54% of men think a female voice is more soothing. But only 38% of women can say the same about these same voices.

Not every country uses a feminine voice. That goes to show that there are other reasons when it comes to selecting voices. An example is the late Phil Sayer (to the right). He was the voice behind the London Underground. He was mostly famous for his work as a TV & radio announcer and tends to crack in a couple of jokes here and there to ease the mood of the passengers. Like it or hate it. It is a completely different style.

Below is a set of photos containing the different faces behind the voices you hear for public transport all over the world. Selected randomly. Variety is the spice of life!