Sonification turns data into sound, letting researchers hear cyber attacks, distant galaxies, or the quantum states of materials rather than see them on a screen. The problem is that sonification remains stuck inside individual disciplines. Scientists often treat it as a purely technical method, while artists who could contribute insights about how people interpret sound are excluded. At the same time, many researchers distrust the subjective, musical associations that come with listening. This project aims to break down those silos and establish sonification as a genuine interdisciplinary practice. If it succeeds, sonification could become a standard tool for exploring data that visualisation handles poorly — continuous streams, multidimensional datasets, or phenomena invisible to the eye. Engineers might monitor factory machinery by its acoustic signature. Climate scientists could hear shifts in ocean currents. Cybersecurity analysts already listen for network intrusions. The project will produce a framework, co-designed sonifications, and open resources so that researchers across fields can adopt the method without reinventing it. For now, the work is fundamental: understanding how to design sound that conveys information reliably, without losing the richness that makes it different from a graph.
View original technical description
This two-year project seeks to unlock the full potential of sonification — a method of representing data through sound — for interdisciplinary research and communication. Sonification involves using computer-generated sounds to convey information, as a Geiger counter does for radioactivity. The project lead recently used it to discover previously undetected cyber attacks [7]. Visualisation expert Robert Kosara wrote `[s]onification is not visualization for the ears, it follows completely different rules', and this makes it so interesting and challenging to do well. Sonification lets us select data that we wish to explore or monitor and attach sounds to it, thus bringing the intangible, such as distant galaxies, computer network traffic, the earth's magnetosphere, or the quantum states of materials into our audible experience. The project challenges the prevalent visual dominance in our society's understanding of knowledge. Challenge: Despite claims of sonification being inherently interdisciplinary, current practices are often limited to single disciplines and lack consideration of how design decisions affect its effectiveness. There are siloed disciplinary attitudes, including attempts to restrict sonification to a purely scientific method, excluding potential contributions from artists. In addition, scientists can be sceptical of the subjective associations of musical listening associated with sound, hindering sonification's development. Aims and Objectives: The overarching goal is to break down these barriers and establish sonification as a truly interdisciplinary practice, an interdisicpline, that can be widely utilised for exploring data, representing intangibles, and providing new embodied experiences. To achieve this we will: 1. Develop an interdisciplinary framework for sonification that overcomes existing barriers and disciplinary scepticisms. 2. Co-design sonifications of challenging-to-represent phenomena with research participants using interdisciplinary approaches. 3. Disseminate resources and best practices widely to increase the utility of sonification across disciplines. 4. Showcase sonification's benefits for education and outreach, especially targeting diverse audiences.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know