What can data visualization teach us about auditory displays?

Hi everyone! We've got another exciting meetup ready to bring in the new year. This time we'll have Leslie Watkins from Fathom Information Design (https://fathom.info/) coming to talk to us about data sonification and auditory displays. Come learn about how we can express data through sound!

This meetup will have pizza and beer provided by Merrimack College! Hooray! They are now offering a Masters of Science in Data Science track, Christian Schindler will be at the meetup to answer any questions! http://onlinedsa.merrimack.edu/

Schedule

6:30pm - 7:00pm - show & tell, hangout
7:00pm - 8:00pm - talk, Q&A, mingling

Abstract

This talk will begin with a brief history of data visualization, focusing on advances in computation and understanding of human cognition and their tremendous impact on the field in recent decades. It will then transition to an overview of the relatively nascent field of data sonification, and a discussion of how we can use computation and our knowledge of aural cognition to advance the field in a similar way. Largely a survey, this talk will present some characteristic examples of auditory displays, and techniques for effectively mapping numerical data to sound.

Bio

Leslie is currently a developer at Fathom Information Design (https://fathom.info/) and a lecturer in MIT's D-Minor (http://architecture.mit.edu/architecture-and-urbanism/degree/minor-design) Program. Previously, she did systems analysis and rapid prototyping at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. She has an MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and a BS in Applied Mathematics from North Carolina State University.