Data sonification

Data sonification is the presentation of data as sound using sonification. It is the auditory equivalent of the more established practice of data visualization.

Process
The usual process for data sonification is directing digital media of a dataset through a software synthesizer and into a digital-to-analog converter to produce sound for humans to experience. Benefits to interpreting data through sonificaiton include accessibility, pattern recognition, education, and artistic expression.

Applications
Applications of data sonification include astronomy studies of star creation, interpreting cluster analysis, and geoscience. Various projects describe the production of sonifications as a collaboration between scientists and musicians.

A target demographic for using data sonification is the blind community because of the inaccessibility of data visualizations.

One of the earliest examples of data sonificaiton is the Geiger counter, which measures ionizing radiation through sound. Another notable example of data sonfication is NASA's processing of images from space telescopes into sounds.