Return to the Perimeter is an augmented reality (AR) soundwalk conceived as a peripatetic lecture. Designed for use with a participant’s own mobile device, the experience employs GPS-triggered audio to spatially align virtual sound elements with the physical environment. The project integrates open-source data, ethnographic interviews and original sound design – drawn from both archival and newly created materials – to explore narratives of social control and relational kinship. Spoken voices, primarily in English, function as narrative agents – alternately guiding or challenging the listener. Although predominantly auditory, the experience incorporates interactive visual elements, including digital maps and motion sensing, creating a multimodal interface responsive to gesture, location and movement.

Eric Leonardson, a Chicago-based audio artist, is co-founder and President of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, and Professor, Adjunct in Art and Technology/Sound Practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.