Sonification to Support Visualization Tasks

VERIDIANA C. L. SALVADOR
ROSANE MINGHIM
MAGNUS L. PACHECO
ICMC- Instituto de Cincias Matemticas e de Computao
Universidade de So Paulo
Caixa Postal 668, 13560-970, So Carlos - SP, Brasil
{veri,rminghim}@icmc.sc.usp.br

Abstract. Computational visualization systems and techniques have improved information gathering
activities and changed ways Science is made. However, the complexity of the data handled by such systems
has suggested the need for alternative representation and display techniques. Auditory display has been
considered to be a real possibility in this area, in a field known as sonification. This paper describes the
approach, implementation and results of a prototype for a sonification system to support graphical techniques
in visualization applications. Results have shown that there are many possibilities for the inclusion of sound
tools in visualization systems, in ways that may ease data interpretation and improve performance in analysis
tasks.

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