EXPERIMENTS IN INFORMATION DESIGN — Week 4

Sonification

Task
Choose one of the following datasets:

• Age structure
• Gender ratio
• S&P 500 stock data

Create a sonification – an audible translation of the data.
Decide which aspects of the data you want to highlight (e.g. change over time, differences, patterns).

Tools
Easy tools:

• TwoTone
• Datasonifyer Studio

Other options:

• Starsound
• Highcharts Sonification

For coding-oriented students:

• Tone.js
• p5.js

Inspiration

• Sonification.Design
• Sonification Kit – Tools

Deliverable

• Bring your sonification next week (audio file or live demo).
• Add a short explanation (max. 100 words): Which data did you translate, and how?

Questions

• Which dimensions of the data can be heard?
• What mappings did you choose (e.g. pitch = age, volume = number)?
• What effects emerged – patterns, surprises, distortions?