This database provides a searchable online record of Sonification Mappings and Auditory Display techniques, in particular those that have undergone scientific evaluation.

"Sonification is defined as the use of nonspeech audio to convey information. More specifically, sonification is the transformation of data relations into perceived relations in an acoustic signal for the purposes of facilitating communication or interpretation. By its very nature, sonification is interdisciplinary, integrating concepts from human perception, acoustics, design, the arts, and engineering. Thus, development of effective auditory representations of data will require interdisciplinary collaborations using the combined knowledge and efforts of psychologists, computer scientists, engineers, physicists, composers, and musicians, along with the expertise of specialists in the application areas being addressed."
[ICAD Sonification Report: Status of the Field and Research Agenda]

In sonification it is critical to know at least three things about the data-sound mapping:

1. The nature of the mapping. Which data dimension (e.g., temperature, pressure, velocity) is mapped onto, or represented by, each acoustic parameter (e.g., frequency, loudness, tempo)? For example, temperature may be represented by the frequency of the sound, so that as temperature changes, the frequency of the sound changes.
2. The polarity of the mapping. When the temperature increases, does the frequency of the sound increase or decrease? In the case of temperature-to-frequency mapping, it is likely best to use an increasing-to-increasing (or up-up) polarity. However, in the case of size and frequency, it is likely best to use an increasing-to-decreasing (up-down) polarity.
3. The scaling of the mapping. If the temperature increases by 30 degrees, how much change must you make in the frequency to convey that temperature change to the listener?
   To find out more about these issues, and some of our research into them, start with my ICAD 2000 paper: Psychophysical Scaling of Sonification Mappings.

This database contains references to, and the description of studies or applications where sound has been used to represent data. Of particular interest is how the data is mapped to the sound. You can search for specific scientific areas, data dimensions, display dimensions, or other elements in the bibliographic reference to the study (author, title, etc.). You may also add references to works not already cited.

A companion resource is the ICAD Annotated Bibliography available from the ICAD (International Community for Auditory Display) website.