Data sonification: do you see what I hear?

Abstract

The authors assert that, despite great strides in developing the graphical dimension of user interfaces, the auditory dimension has been neglected. They offer a tool for using sound to complement visual cues when working with complex data. The Porsonify toolkit creates sonifications that can be easily integrated with existing visualization systems. Porsonify provides a platform to experimentally map data to sound. To provide portability, Porsonify relies on a network interface to sound devices and descriptions of abstract sound devices. By manipulating abstract sound devices, Porsonify allows access to unique, device-specific features, while hiding their complexities within the higher level concept of a sonification. This structure makes it easy to create sonifications, both in isolation and with accompanying visualizations. >