A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

| Peer-Reviewed

A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced

Published in American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Volume 9, Issue 4)

Received: 7 April 2022 Accepted: 6 May 2022 Published: 31 May 2022

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.

Published in	American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
Page(s)	42-51
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Data Sonification, HCI, User Centred Design

References

[1]	United Nation (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights. Last accessed 5 April 2022.
[2]	United Nation (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol [pdf file]. https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf. Last accessed 5 April 2022.
[3]	Holloway, C. (2019). Disability interaction (dix) a manifesto. Interactions, 26 (2), 44-49. doi: 10.1145/3310322.
[4]	World Health Organization, (2002). The World health report: 2002: Reducing the risks, promoting healthy life. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42510. Last accessed 5 April 2022.
[5]	Vornholt, K., Villotti, P., Muschalla, B., Bauer, J., Colella, A., Zijlstra, F., Van Ruitenbeek, G., Uitdewilligen, S. and Corbìere, M. (2018). Disability and employment–overview and highlights. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 27 (1), 40-55. doi: 10.1080/1359432X.2017.1387536.
[6]	Shakespeare, T. (2017). Disability: The Basics (1.ª ed.). London: Routledge.
[7]	ISO, (2018). ISO 9241-11: 2018 (en) Ergonomics of human-system interaction - Part 11: Usability: Definitions and concepts. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:9241:-11:ed-2:v1:en. Last accessed 5 April 2022.
[8]	Grabowski, N. A., & Barner, K. E. (1998). Data visualization methods for the blind using force feedback and sonification. Proc. SPIE 3524, Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies V (Vol. 3524, pp. 131-139). doi: 10.1117/12.333677.
[9]	Mansur, D. L., Blattner, M. M., & Joy, K. I. (1985). Sound graphs: A numerical data analysis method for the blind. Journal of medical systems, 9 (3), 163-174. doi: 10.1007/BF00996201.
[10]	Quinton, M., McGregor, I., & Benyon, D. (2016). Sonifying the solar system. In Proceedings of the 22th International Conference on Auditory Display.
[11]	Riber, A. G. (2018). Planethesizer: approaching exoplanet sonification. In Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Auditory Display, 219-226.
[12]	Davison, B. K. & Walker, B. N. (2007). Sonification Sandbox reconstruction: Software standard for auditory graphs. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Auditory Display, 509-512.
[13]	Díaz-Merced, W. L., Candey, R. M., Brickhouse, N., Schneps, M., Mannone, J. C., Brewster, S. & Kolenberg, K. (2011). Sonification of astronomical data. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 7 (S285), 133-136.
[14]	Worrall, D., Bylstra, M., Barrass, S. & Dean, R. (2007). SoniPy: The design of an extendable software framework for sonification research and auditory display. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Auditory Display, 445-452.
[15]	Cooke, J., Díaz-Merced, W. L., Foran, G., Hannam, J. & García, B. (2017). Exploring data sonification to enable, enhance, and accelerate the analysis of big, noisy, and multi-dimensional data: workshop 9. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 14 (S339), 251-256.
[16]	Casado, J., Díaz-Merced, W. L. & García, B. (2021). Recommendations for accessible human computer interface (HCI) design [pdf file]. https://www.sonoUno.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/07/Recommendations-accessible-HCI-design-2021.pdf. Last accessed 6 April 2022.
[17]	Casado, J., García, B. & Díaz-Merced, W. L. (2019). Analysis of astronomical data through sonification: reaching more inclusion for visually disable scientists. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, (S358), in press.
[18]	Bahr, G. S. & Ford, R. A. (2011). How and why pop-ups don’t work: Pop-up prompted eye movements, user affect and decision making. Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (2), 776-783. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2010.10.030.
[19]	Massengale, L. R. & Vasquez III, E. (2016). Assessing Accessibility: How Accessible Are Online Courses for Students with Disabilities? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16 (1), 69-79.
[20]	Malterud, K. (2012). Systematic text condensation: a strategy for qualitative analysis. Scandinavian journal of public health, 40 (8), 795-805. doi: 10.1177/1403494812465030.
[21]	Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and psychological measurement, 20 (1), 37-46. doi: 10.1177/001316446002000104.
[22]	Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J. & Bracken, C. C. (2002). Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human communication research, 28 (4), 587-604. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00826.x.
[23]	Hallgren, K. A. (2012). Computing inter-rater reliability for observational data: an overview and tutorial. Tutorials in quantitative methods for psychology, 8 (1), 23.
[24]	Sim, J. and Wright, C. C. (2005). The kappa statistic in reliability studies: use, interpretation, and sample size requirements. Physical therapy & Rehabilitation Journal, 85 (3), 257-268. doi: 10.1093/ptj/85.3.257.
[25]	McHugh, M. L. (2012). Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochemia medica, 22 (3), 276-282.
[26]	Supper, A. (2012). The search for the “killer application”: Drawing the boundaries around the sonification of scientific data. In The oxford handbook of sound studies. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195388947.013.0064.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. (2022). A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9(4), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am. J. Astron. Astrophys. 2022, 9(4), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am J Astron Astrophys. 2022;9(4):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11,
  author = {Johanna Casado and Beatriz García and Poshak Gandhi and Wanda Díaz-Merced},
  title = {A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno},
  journal = {American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {4},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  abstract = {Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno
AU  - Johanna Casado
AU  - Beatriz García
AU  - Poshak Gandhi
AU  - Wanda Díaz-Merced
Y1  - 2022/05/31
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
T2  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JO  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-4686
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
AB  - Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Johanna Casado

Institute of Technologies in Detection and Astroparticles, National Atomic Energy Commission-National Council for Scientific and Technical Research-National University of Saint Martin, Mendoza-Buenos Aires, Argentina
Beatriz García

Institute of Technologies in Detection and Astroparticles, National Atomic Energy Commission-National Council for Scientific and Technical Research-National University of Saint Martin, Mendoza-Buenos Aires, Argentina
Poshak Gandhi

School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Wanda Díaz-Merced

European Gravitational Observatory, Pisa, Italy

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. (2022). A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9(4), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am. J. Astron. Astrophys. 2022, 9(4), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am J Astron Astrophys. 2022;9(4):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11,
  author = {Johanna Casado and Beatriz García and Poshak Gandhi and Wanda Díaz-Merced},
  title = {A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno},
  journal = {American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {4},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  abstract = {Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno
AU  - Johanna Casado
AU  - Beatriz García
AU  - Poshak Gandhi
AU  - Wanda Díaz-Merced
Y1  - 2022/05/31
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
T2  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JO  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-4686
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
AB  - Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download