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Interactive Sonification: Models, Methods and Applications

Dr. Thomas Hermann
Ambient Intelligence Group, CITEC – Center of Excellence in Cognitive Interaction Design & Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University

20 hours, 5 credits

date to be fixed

Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, via Caruso, meeting room, ground floor

Contacts: Prof. Marco Avvenuti

Abstract

Sonification, the representation of data by using (mainly non-speech) sound, finds increasingly more applications in areas such as data analysis, diagnostics, interactive data mining, process monitoring, information systems, interactive support for learning movement skills, and assistive technology (e.g. sensory substitution for visually impaired users). The basis for creating auditory displays is a solid understanding of the different available sonification techniques (e.g. audification, parameter-mapping sonification, parameterized auditory icons, earcons and spearcons, model-based sonification) and sound synthesis/sound rendering methods. To design sonification systems, however, factors such as the functional level, the aesthetic quality, the affective dimension of sound and the cultural bias need to be considered. Their interplay can best be understood by discussing them on the background of concrete applications and sonification design examples.

The course introduces into the interdisciplinary research field of sonification and provides both theoretical and practical information for the implementation of sonifications, interleaving the introduction of methods and results in the morning session with practical hands-on sessions where we experiment with sound and sonification in the afternoon session. Special attention will be given to the approach of mapping for auditory display, to Model-based Sonification, and to techniques for interacting with sonifications.

Syllabus

• Data mining basics (representation, dimensionality reduction, unsupervised methods for pre-structuring data)
• Audiology and Psychoacoustics (in a nutshell)
• Sonification – what?, why?, how?
  
• Sound Synthesis for Sonification
• A practical introduction into Sonification Techniques
• Focus: Model-based Sonification for Interacting with data
• Application examples for sonification
• Design Considerations (practised in smaller project groups)