A Model for Data-Driven Sonification Using Soundscapes

Abstract

A sonification is a rendering of audio in response to data, and is used in instances where visual representations of data are impossible, difficult, or unwanted. Designing sonifications often requires knowledge in multiple areas as well as an understanding of how the end users will use the system. This makes it an ideal candidate for end-user development where the user plays a role in the creation of the design. We present a model for sonification that utilizes user-specified examples and data to generate cross-domain mappings from data to sound. As a novel contribution we utilize soundscapes (acoustic scenes) for these user-selected examples to define a structure for the sonification. We demonstrate a proof of concept of our model using sound examples and discuss how we plan to build on this work in the future.

Sonification of network traffic flow for monitoring and situational awareness

“…However, the use of recorded sounds is better than synthesised sounds, because it enables users to link events to familiar and understandable sounds. Sounds from a natural environment such birds tweeting or animal sounds are easier to describe than artificially synthesized tones which may rely on specific terminology such as frequency and timbre [49]. The sounds provide us with immediate awareness of the types of events that are happening:…”

Composing The Good Ship Hibernia and the Hole in the Bottom of the World

“…A number of composers and sonification researchers and practitioners have explored and applied similar concepts of soundscape sonification. [24,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38] Walker and Kramer [24] recognise the importance of environmental sound to sonification. They argue that traditional psychoacoustics does not offer a comprehensive description of how listeners hear and think about real world sound and suggest that an ecological psychoacoustics that considers the relationship between organism and environment is required for the design of effective sonifications.…”

Listen To Your Drive: Sonification Architecture and Strategies for Driver State and Performance

“…Soundscapes allow for a large amount of data to be aggregated and summarized via sound parameter mappings. They have been found to be easily distinguished from background noise, while non-intrusive enough to be easily ignored by the listener when other tasks demand attention [13]. Soundscapes are often reported as informative and relaxing, especially when comprised of natural sound samples (i.e., running water, animal calls, wind rustling tree leaves, etc.…”