Psychophysical Scaling of Sonification Mappings                                 

 Bruce N. Walker                             Gregory Kramer                          David M. Lane
          Psychology Dept.                                   Clarity                         Psychology Dept.
           Rice University                        310 NW Brynwood Lane                         Rice University
            6100 Main St.                            Portland, OR 97229                        6100 Main St.
     Houston, TX  77005 USA                             greg@metta.org                  Houston, TX  77005 USA
          walkerb@rice.edu                                                                     

ABSTRACT                                                                                        
We determined preferred data-to-display mappings by asking experiment participants directly and then examined the
psychophysical scaling functions relating perceived data values to underlying acoustic parameters. Presently, we are
extending and validating the scaled mappings in practical data interpretation tasks. The resulting scaling functions, in
conjunction with the experimental paradigm developed here, should spark further research in this area and have implications
for the design of future sonifications.                                                         


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