Data sonification is the process of representing data with sound. This is an alternative to visual representation, such as graphs and images, which are heavily relied upon to communicate complex data. Values obtained are mapped using sound parameters such as pitch, volume, timbre etc. to give an auditory representation of the data. An everyday example of sonification is of a heart rate monitor, whereby a tone is emitted that correlates to the patient’s heartbeat.
Sonification is extremely valuable for accessibility in scientific research. It has been especially instrumental for blind and visually impaired astronomers, who have played a major role in its development. It is also particularly useful in representing time series-data; allowing researchers to more easily identify patterns and anomalies in a data set. Sonification could be better suited to this type of data as the human auditory system offers a higher temporal resolution than the optical system, meaning the brain can distinguish changes in sound much quicker than visual changes.
Sonic Intangibles is used in both public engagement and scientific application, both requiring different approaches. For use with the wider public and creative arts the objective is to create an emotive and engaging audio experience. This is captured by mapping the data with musical notes, creating a more melodic sound. Whereas for scientific implementation precision is often obtained using a continuous pitch scale.
Over the years there has been an ongoing conversation around a need for a standard model for sonification and is often stated as one of the major challenges to wider scientific application, however this concept has become slightly misconstrued. Prof. Chris Harrison, Professor of Astrophysics at Newcastle University and a member of the research team for Sonic Intangibles spoke to The Courier about a standard model, stating ‘this doesn’t mean we all must agree on which sounds to use’, ‘for graphs we have standard frameworks like scatter plots, bar charts etc. and expectations like axis labels and legends’ and that ‘sonification would benefit from similar standards’
Professor Chris Harrison further stated he would encourage everyone to give sonification a go and that those interested can try turning the stars above your location into sound or upload your own tabulated datasets using their online Sonification Suite App(https://www.audiouniverse.org/sonification-suite/)