The sound of our cities: why the Australian pedestrian button belongs in our archives

The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button is an immediately identifiable product in our physical and aural urban landscape.

Now inducted into the National Film Sound Archive of Australia’s 2026 Sounds of Australia, it is one of very few physical objects selected for the archive. It joins the Fairlight CMI digital synthesiser, inducted in 2015, and the Speaking Clock, inducted in 2024.

The sound of the Australian pedestrian crossing was initially conceived as a priority to assist visually impaired pedestrians. But is also benefits other people. It is now an instantly recognisable and unmistakable prompt of when to, and when not to, “walk”: the slow “tick” beat indicating a wait signal is replaced with the repetitive faster “dit-dit-dit-dit” of when to walk.

Many Australians will recognise the sound as uniquely Australian and part of our built urban soundscape. But how much sound around us is designed?

Designing for accessibility – and pop music

The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button audio is a successful example of audio-tactile signalling and an early example of universal design principles: products and environments that are inclusive for a diverse range of users, irrespective of age and ability.

Accessibility was not an afterthought. It was a foundational design requirement when first commissioned by then New South Wales Department of Main Roads in 1984. The resultant design was a successful collaboration led involving industrial design firm, Nielsen design associates, and acoustic engineers Challis & Associates.

Since it was introduced over 40 years ago, its robust form and distinctive sounds has also been recognised as an icon of Australian design by Good Design Australia and resides in museum collections.

The distinctive sounds of the PB/5 pedestrian button has also reached well beyond their purpose in the built environment. It now has been captured in popular culture – most notably by Billie Eilish, who used samples of the sound in her 2019 hit song Bad Guy.

Designing sound

For most of the 20th century, sound or noise was a problem – something to be managed or suppressed.

People wanted quieter appliances, cars and machinery. Noise was a consequence of a product’s internal mechanism and function. Think of the pneumatic roar of a vacuum cleaner, the high-pitched whirl of a kitchen blender or the mechanical growl of a lawnmower.

But not all consequential product sounds may be perceived as noise. Product sounds can also be evocative of a particular moment of time or situation. The sound of a 1990s dial-up modem conjures thoughts of the early days of the internet; an espresso machine teases thoughts of fresh coffee with its airy hiss.

Sound plays a varied and increasingly sophisticated role in product design. In more recent times, sound has been designed into many products, added and crafted to enhance product functionality and user experience.

Electric vehicles illustrate this clearly. The comparatively silent motor and transmission in an electric vehicle offers an unfamiliar driving experience compared to the traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Kia counteracts this by using “active sound design”, where they modify the “in-car audio system to mimic engine sounds that drivers are familiar with”.

Conversely, Kia also employs active noise cancellation techniques to suppress unwanted road noise.

This emerging need to craft and enhance sounds beyond the inherent consequential sound of a product has led to new specialisations within product development and marketing. We now see people employed in acoustic design, sonic branding, psychoacoustics and product sound design.

Functional sound signalling

Despite the 40-year-old audio-tactile technology of the PB/5, it remains a relatively sophisticated and intuitive example of functional sound signalling. Especially when compared to the unrefined (but effective) screech of a household fire alarm, but comparable to slightly more refined car seatbelt warning ping and reverse parking beepers.

Functional sound signalling is pervasive in specialised industrial settings, factories, hospitals and aviation. Hospital medical devices and aircraft avionics incorporate various signalling alarms to indicate changes in operational status that require monitoring or intervention, without creating ambiguity or sensory overload.

Beyond the priorities of sonic notification and alarms, designers use sound to enhance user experience. Think of the soft click feedback of the well designed switch, or a car door closing “thunk” to signal precision engineering.

Such strategies are pervasive the digital realm. Chimes, pings and startup sounds not only represent feedback to the user but also represent how brand identity can be expressed through sound. The distinct sounds of an Apple Mac or a Windows machine starting up are unmistakable.

Even our food is not beyond reach of the sound design. Many processed foods and packaging offer distinctive brand cues to signal quality and perceived freshness. The crack of the chocolate on a Magnum ice cream, the loud crisp crunch of Pringles, the fizz upon opening a can of Guinness are just a few examples of how sound is designed into products today.

Few products and sounds last as long in circulation as the PB/5. Sounds of Australia is important as a accessible time capsule of a diverse range of ephemeral sounds that timestamp the shared lived experience of Australians, past and present.

So what Australian physical object sound would you nominate for next year’s Sounds of Australia? My product pick would present the curators with an interesting challenge: how do you represent a product not by the sound it makes, but by the sound it enables other to hear. My nomination is the Cochlear implant: a significant Australian medical innovation and assistive technology.