Presenters
Ms. Kate Meredith, GLAS Education, WI, USA; Micah Lewis, GLAS Education, WI, USA; Nitya Sharma, Chapel Hill High School, NC, USA; Sue Carney University of Oregon, OR, USA.
Abstract
Data sonification, the translation of data into nonspeech audio, is gaining popularity as a way for blind and low-vision (BLV) students and researchers to access data. Typically, a sonification is a single audio file that a listener plays from start to finish. This kind of access is not equivalent to how sighted researchers actively interrogate their data. Sighted users can filter datasets, jump between regions of interest, zoom in on unusual patterns, and dynamically compare different data segments. BLV researchers deserve the same level of independent, flexible interaction with their data.
GLAS Education is developing a solution built around a physical device called a MIDI controller – a tool originally designed for musicians that features knobs, sliders, and buttons for controlling sound in real time. By reprogramming these devices for data exploration, we can give BLV users hands-on, tactile control over their sonifications, allowing them to adjust parameters on the fly, navigate through datasets, and zero in on features of interest, all through touch and sound.
In this presentation, we will demonstrate the system in action, explain how it works, and discuss how researchers and educators can incorporate this tool into their own sonification projects.