Data sonification from the desktop: Should sound be part of standard data analysis software?

Authors:
John H. Flowers;Dion C. Buhman;Kimberly D. Turnage
Affiliations:
University of Nebraska--Lincoln, Lincoln, NE;University of Nebraska--Lincoln, Lincoln, NE;University of Nebraska--Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Venue:
ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP)
Year:
2005

Citing 1
Cited 4

Estimating correlations from scatterplots

Human Factors

Data density and trend reversals in auditory graphs: Effects on point-estimation and trend-identification tasks

ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP)
Evaluating a tool for improving accessibility to charts and graphs

Proceedings of the 12th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility
The use of sound to represent data and concepts as a means to engender creative thought: some thoughts on implementation and a research agenda

Proceedings of the 7th Audio Mostly Conference: A Conference on Interaction with Sound
Evaluating a Tool for Improving Accessibility to Charts and Graphs

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

The design of auditory formats for data display is presently focused on applications for blind or visually impaired users, specialized displays for use when visual attention must be devoted to other tasks, and some innovative work in revealing properties of complex data that may not be effectively rendered by traditional visual means. With the availability of high-quality and flexible sound production hardware in standard desktop computers, the potential exists for using sound to represent characteristics of typical “small and simpl” samples of data in routine data inspection and analysis. Our research has shown that basic properties of simple functions, distribution properties of data samples, and patterns of covariation between two variables can be effectively displayed by simple auditory graphs involving patterns of pitch variation over time. While such developments have implications for specialized applications and populations of users, these displays are easily comprehended by normal users with minimal practice. Providing further software enhancement to encourage exploration of data representation by sound may lead to a variety of useful creative developments in data display technology.