Data Sonification Project

Humanity has always measured the stars and has built models of what was perceivable according to the technology available at that particular time. Through the advancement in various technologies it is now possible to look into deep space and to observe and discover planets, solar systems and galaxies that were not perceivable before. This means that there is much more data to be analysed and more effective and efficient means of data analysis are required. Sound has been used for measurement for hundreds of years, since it is a mathematical representation. Sound is an efficient and effective way of analysing data and we can hear layers of sounds simultaneously and easily make distinctions when changes occur. Many attempts to use sound with scientific data have been made. This was done without including the ‘end user’ and many of these sonifications were ineffective. In this study a sonified model of the 8 planets of our solar system was built and tested using an ‘end user’ approach. The end user was the Esplora Planetarium which is being built in Malta. The data was gathered from the planetarium and the sound was designed around that data. The sound design was tested on 11 participants and on a representative from the planetarium. The results show that listeners were able to discern various planetary characteristics without having any information about the planets they were listening to. Certain sound design parameters did not represent particular planetary characteristics correctly. These issues can be arranged and further testing can be done in order to fine tune the model.

Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2023)

Even if images of astrophysical objects are used by professional astronomers for research and by the public for outreach, we are all basically blind to the Universe. Challenging the idea that we should always use visualisations, there has been a growing interest in converting astronomical phenomena into sound, motivated by: making astronomy more accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI); creating more engaging educational resources, and enabling a deeper understanding of complex astronomical data. The Audible Universe (AU) workshop focuses on consolidating what has been done in the field so far and identifying the areas where most effort is required to make progress over the coming years. The second edition of the AU workshop (AU2) took place in 2022, and brought together 50 experts, among whom astronomers interested in sonification, sound designers, experts in sound perception and educators. This community started a multi-disciplinary discussion about how to pro...

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2019

Context. We present the first high-cadence multiwavelength radial-velocity observations of the Sun-as-a-star, carried out during 57 consecutive days using the stellar échelle spectrograph at the Hertzsprung SONG Telescope operating at the Teide Observatory. Aims. Our aim was to produce a high-quality data set and reference values for the global helioseismic parameters νmax, ⊙ and Δν⊙ of the solar p-modes using the SONG instrument. The obtained data set or the inferred values should then be used when the scaling relations are applied to other stars showing solar-like oscillations observed with SONG or similar instruments. Methods. We used different approaches to analyse the power spectrum of the time series to determine νmax, ⊙: simple Gaussian fitting and heavy smoothing of the power spectrum. We determined Δν⊙ using the method of autocorrelation of the power spectrum. The amplitude per radial mode was determined using the method described in Kjeldsen et al. (2008, ApJ, 682, 1370). ...

2021

Data visualization software is commonly used to explore outer space in a planetarium environment, where the visuals of the software is typically accompanied with a narrator and supplementary background music. By letting sound take a bigger role in these kinds of presentations, a more informative and immersive experience can be achieved. The aim of the present study was to explore how sonification can be used as a complement to the visualization software OpenSpace to convey information about the Solar System, as well as increasing the perceived immersiveness for the audience in a planetarium environment. This was investigated by implementing a sonification that conveyed planetary properties, such as the size and orbital period of a planet, by mapping this data to sonification parameters. With a user-centered approach, the sonification was designed iteratively and evaluated in both an online and planetarium environment. The results of the evaluations show that the participants found t...

arXiv (Cornell University), 2024

El campo de la sonorización, uso de sonido no hablado para el análisis de datos, se encuentra establecido dentro de las ciencias espaciales. "The audible Universe" es una convocatoria internacional que se centra en herramientas de sonorización aplicadas a la astronomía para representar datos complejos como nebulosas y galaxias. Sin embargo, poco se habla de la traducción de imágenes a sonido, este desafío que busca representar datos en 2 o 3 dimensiones a través de una técnica unidimensional. Lo mencionado lleva a que exista una total falta de consenso en cuanto a los parámetros de sonido a utilizar y cómo éstos son interpretados por las personas. Este trabajo busca profundizar sobre las herramientas para la sonorización de imágenes existentes, analizando si el objetivo de las mismas es solamente divulgación o incluye la posibilidad de investigación. Se presenta una nueva propuesta, manteniendo el enfoque del software sonoUno en investigación, puntualizando la necesidad de técnicas confiables que integren a las personas con diversidad funcional en el campo de la investigación.

Proceedings of the IAUS367-Cambridge University Press, 2021

Though there are a variety of astronomy sonification software packages, none of them shown high granularity evidence of having been designed with a user-centric focus. SonoUno is a sonification package created taking into account the user from the beginning, and incorporates end user contact feedback for continuous improvements to the software. In this contribution, SonoUno user cases are presented with the soft corresponding updates, as well as the first description of a recent web page development.

Proceedings of the 2011 New Instruments for Musical Expression Conference, 2011

This paper describes recent developments in the creation of sound-making instruments and devices powered by photovoltaic (PV) technologies. With the rise of more efficient PV products in diverse packages, the possibilities for creating solar-powered musical instruments, sound installations, and loudspeakers are becoming increasingly realizable. This paper surveys past and recent developments in this area, including several projects by the author, and demonstrates how the use of PV technologies can influence the creative process in unique ways. In addition, this paper discusses how solar sound arts can enhance the aesthetic direction taken by recent work in soundscape studies and acoustic ecology. Finally, this paper will point towards future directions and possibilities as PV technologies continue to evolve and improve in terms of performance, and become more affordable.

2016

This paper presents measurement results obtained with a device called Heliophone. The Heliophone collects and converts sunlight to sound without electronic amplification. Sun light is focused to a photoacoustic piston surface in the photoacoustic cavity by means of a compound parabolic collimator, and its intensity is modulated by a mechanical chopper. The photoacoustic cell is connected to an acoustic horn, which acts as an impedance matching device between the cavity and the open air environment, making the sound audible. Acoustic measurements are presented, using sun light to drive the Heliophone.

2021

We have created a show about the Solar System, freely available for both planetariums and home viewing, where objects in space are represented with sound as well as with visuals. For example, the audience listens to the stars appear above the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and they hear the planets orbit around their heads. The aim of this show is that it can be enjoyed and understood, irrespective of level of vision. Here we describe how we used our new computer code, STRAUSS, to convert data into sound for the show. We also discuss the lessons learnt during the design of the show, including how it was imperative to obtain a range of diverse perspectives from scientists, a composer and representatives of the blind and vision impaired community.

We describe an instrument for seismically probing the acoustic properties of the Sun's lower atmosphere. The instrument, which is based on magneto-optical filter technology, acquires full-disk Dopplergrams simultaneously in the K D1 (770 nm) and Na D2 (589 nm) Fraunhofer lines. The Dopplergrams have a spatial resolution of ~5 arc secs and are recorded at a cadence of one frame every 10 seconds, average from 16 frames per second. These data allow us to use acoustic waves with frequencies beyond the cut-off frequency for the solar atmosphere (~5mHz) to map the spatial and temporal changes in the vertical wave travel time between the mid-chromosphere and the low-photosphere. These types of maps will provide a strong constraint for models of the solar atmosphere and possibly study early warnings for explosive phenomena. We present some preliminary results from observations made at the geographical South Pole during the 2002/2003 Austral summer. We also discuss our program for the ne...