The study brings together researchers from Northumbria and Newcastle universities and will create a new hub for sonification innovation. It is led by Paul Vickers, Professor of Sonification in Computer and Information Sciences at Northumbria University.

It is one of 36 projects that will share £32.4m from the first round of UKRI’s new cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme, created to stimulate new interdisciplinary research.

The project will see collaborations by experts in areas such as spatial audio, music, astronomy, culture, materials science and mathematics to explore intangible phenomena through sound.

Understanding through sound

Sonification is a way of communicating information through sound. While human vision can only focus on one thing at a time, we can track multiple sound sources at once, from any direction, and we can understand and feel different things through sound. 

Professor Vickers said: “Sonification lets us select data that we wish to explore or monitor and attach sounds to it, thus bringing the intangible such as distant galaxies, computer network traffic or the earth’s magnetosphere into our audible experience.

“This project will explore how to bring sonification expertise together to form an interdiscipline which has the potential to transform sonification research by removing disciplinary boundaries.”

Newcastle University’s Dr Chris Harrison and Dr Bennett Hogg are part of the research team whose aim is to break down interdisciplinary barriers and open new ways of understanding through sound, making the North East a world-leading hub in sonification research.

Dr Chris Harrison, a Reader of Astrophysics, explores the use of sonification to understand and to communicate astronomical data. He has used sonification to make immersive educational experiences, to enhance the analysis of complex datasets for researchers, and to make astronomy more accessible to those who cannot access information visually. He is a leader of the Audio Universe project. This project provides tools and resources for sonification, and has included the release of a sonification-based show about the Solar System, designed to be accessible to blind and visually impaired children. 

“This new grant is very important for the development of sonification at Newcastle. Sonification is inherently interdisciplinary, requiring knowledge of sound perception, sound design as well as the knowledge of the underlying data that you want to turn into sound. Whilst sonification and typically been developed by isolated groups of researchers, this new project will enable us to dedicate time and resources to bring together wide-ranging experts and develop sonification with a truly interdisciplinary approach.

“It is very exciting to create a unique UK-based sonification hub in the city of Newcastle, with experts from both Newcastle University and Northumbria University.”

Dr Bennett Hogg, Senior Lecturer in Music, added: “It's going to be great to consolidate the innovative work Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have been doing in connection with data sonification over the past few years with this exciting new UKRI interdisciplinary project. From astronomy to particle physics we'll be exploring how best to communicate, using sound and music, phenomena that lie beyond our human capacities of direct perception. This raises multiple philosophical issues and challenges which the strong interdisciplinary team are excited to confront."

 Press release adapted with thanks from Northumbria University.