"I hear the pattern": interactive sonification of geographical data patterns

Title"I hear the pattern": interactive sonification of geographical data patterns
Publication TypeConference Papers
Year of Publication2005
AuthorsZhao H, Plaisant C, Shneiderman B
Conference NameCHI '05 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems
Date Published2005///
PublisherACM
Conference LocationNew York, NY, USA
ISBN Number1-59593-002-7
Keywordsauditory user interfaces, information seeking, sonification, universal usability, vision impairment
Abstract

Interactive sonification (non-speech sound) is a novel strategy to present the geographical distribution patterns of statistical data to vision impaired users. We discuss the design space with dimensions of interaction actions, data representation forms, input devices, navigation structures, and sound feedback encoding. Two interfaces were designed, one using a keyboard and another using a smooth surface touch tablet. A study with three blind users shows that they are able to perceive patterns of 5-category values on both familiar and unknown maps, and learn new map geography, in both interfaces.

URLhttp://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1056808.1057052
DOI10.1145/1056808.1057052