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Sound experts’ perspectives on astronomy sonification projects

Nature Astronomy volume 6, pages 1249–1255 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Audible Universe project aims to create dialogue between two scientific domains investigating two distinct research objects: stars and sound. It has been instantiated within a collaborative workshop that began to mutually acculturate the two communities, by sharing and transmitting respective knowledge, skills and practices. One main outcome of this exchange was a global view on the astronomical data sonification paradigm for observing the diversity of tools, uses and users (including visually impaired people), but also the current limitations and potential methods of improvement. From this viewpoint, here we present basic elements gathered and contextualized by sound experts in their respective fields (sound perception/cognition, sound design, psychoacoustics, experimental psychology), to anchor sonification for astronomy in a more well informed, methodological and creative process.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Lorentz Center for supporting the organization of the Audible Universe workshop in September 2021 and to the workshop participants for valuable and insightful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. STMS, IRCAM–CNRS–SU, Paris, France

    N. Misdariis & P. Susini

  2. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    E. Özcan

  3. Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    M. Grassi

  4. Department of Media Technology and Interaction Design, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

    S. Pauletto & R. Bresin

  5. sonification.com, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    S. Barrass

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  1. N. Misdariis
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Contributions

N.M. led the initiation, structuring and editing of this Perspective, the management of co-authors’ contributions and the writing of Context of this Perspective, Introduction and Conclusion. E.Ö. and M.G. led the writing of From sound perception to sound experience, S.P. and S.B. led the writing of From sound design to sonic information design and R.B. and P.S. led the writing of From psychoacoustics to sonification evaluation. All co-authors participated in discussions about the content, and provided comments on the initial manuscript and feedback for the revised versions.

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Correspondence to N. Misdariis.

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Misdariis, N., Özcan, E., Grassi, M. et al. Sound experts’ perspectives on astronomy sonification projects. Nat Astron 6, 1249–1255 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01821-w

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