BABBLE ONLINE: APPLYING STATISTICS AND DESIGN TO SONIFY THE INTERNET                                                        

M. H. Hansen                              B.Rubin                                            
Bell Laboratories                       EAR Studio                                           
Murray Hill, New Jersey            New York City, New York                                       
cocteau@bell-labs.com               benrubin@earstudio.com                                       


ABSTRACT
A statistician (Hansen) and a media artist (Rubin) investigate the                                                            
application of statistical methods and sound-design principles to                                                             
the real-time sonifiation of Internet communications. This paper
presents results from two applications: the sonification of browsing 
activity on Lucent's Web site, and the sonification of a large
number of Internet chat sites in real-time. These experiments suggest 
new ways to experience the diverse and dynamic data streams 
generated by modern data networks. As an art-technology collaboration, 
the project outcomes range from the creation of art installations 
to the development of practical monitoring platforms. This
paper discusses the interplay between these two perspectives, and                                                             
suggests that each is motivated by a common interest in generating                                                            
meaningful experiences with dynamic data.                                                                                     



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