Sonification

Sonification, i.e., the transformation of data into sound or mapping of data characteristics to sound parameters, is the auditory equivalent to visualization, and can be used as a complement to visualization to facilitate interpretation of a visual representation or to reveal new relationships in data. Visual representations might be hard to comprehend, and the visual complexity might load the visual cognitive system. By using sonification as a complement, it is possible to provide more information and simultaneously ease the interpretation of the visual representation. For example, sonification can reduce visual misinterpretations caused by simultaneous brightness contrast, ease understanding of density levels, or support perception of different datasets in a visualization.