SONIFICATION MAPPINGS DATABASE ON THE WEB

It is not always clear to a display designer how to use soundmost effectively to represent data values. This is where thecumulated experiences of the auditory display communitycould greatly assist in the creation of more effective andmore useable sonifications and auditory displays. However,there is no one central place to find recommendations aboutwhich sounds are best for a given data type. Past results inthis field have been presented in a broad range of journals,publications, and conference proceedings, making itdifficult to search for design guidance. In the absence ofsuch guidance, a designer might wish to try out severalcompeting approaches to determine the best performer.Unfortunately, schedule and budgetary constraints oftenmake this impractical, if not impossible. Thus, there is aclear need for a central repository where researchers cancontribute their experience and wisdom about datasonification and auditory display design.Walker [1][2] has pointed out that in order to begincreating a successful sonification it is critical for a designerto know at least three things about the data-to-soundmapping:1.