A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced

Published in American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Volume 9, Issue 4)

Received: 7 April 2022 Accepted: 6 May 2022 Published: 31 May 2022

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Abstract

Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.

Published in	American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Volume 9, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
Page(s)	42-51
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Data Sonification, HCI, User Centred Design

References

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APA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. (2022). A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9(4), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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ACS Style

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am. J. Astron. Astrophys. 2022, 9(4), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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AMA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am J Astron Astrophys. 2022;9(4):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11,
  author = {Johanna Casado and Beatriz García and Poshak Gandhi and Wanda Díaz-Merced},
  title = {A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno},
  journal = {American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {4},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  abstract = {Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno
AU  - Johanna Casado
AU  - Beatriz García
AU  - Poshak Gandhi
AU  - Wanda Díaz-Merced
Y1  - 2022/05/31
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
T2  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JO  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-4686
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
AB  - Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Johanna Casado

Institute of Technologies in Detection and Astroparticles, National Atomic Energy Commission-National Council for Scientific and Technical Research-National University of Saint Martin, Mendoza-Buenos Aires, Argentina
Beatriz García

Institute of Technologies in Detection and Astroparticles, National Atomic Energy Commission-National Council for Scientific and Technical Research-National University of Saint Martin, Mendoza-Buenos Aires, Argentina
Poshak Gandhi

School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Wanda Díaz-Merced

European Gravitational Observatory, Pisa, Italy

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APA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. (2022). A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9(4), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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ACS Style

Johanna Casado; Beatriz García; Poshak Gandhi; Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am. J. Astron. Astrophys. 2022, 9(4), 42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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AMA Style

Johanna Casado, Beatriz García, Poshak Gandhi, Wanda Díaz-Merced. A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno. Am J Astron Astrophys. 2022;9(4):42-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11,
  author = {Johanna Casado and Beatriz García and Poshak Gandhi and Wanda Díaz-Merced},
  title = {A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno},
  journal = {American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics},
  volume = {9},
  number = {4},
  pages = {42-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajaa.20210904.11},
  abstract = {Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A New Approach to Sonification of Astrophysical Data: The User Centred Design of SonoUno
AU  - Johanna Casado
AU  - Beatriz García
AU  - Poshak Gandhi
AU  - Wanda Díaz-Merced
Y1  - 2022/05/31
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
T2  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
JO  - American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2376-4686
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaa.20210904.11
AB  - Even when actual technologies present the potential to augment inclusion and the United Nations has been stablished the digital access to information as a human right, people with disabilities continuously faced barriers in their profession. In many cases, in sciences, the lack of accessible and user centred tools left behind researches with disabilities and not facilitate them to conduct front-line research by using their respective strengths. In this contribution, we discuss some hurdles and solutions relevant for using new technology for data analysis, analysing the barriers found by final users. A focus group session was conducted with nine people with and without visual impairment, using the tool sonoUno with one linear function and an astronomical data set downloaded from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. As a result of the focus group study, incorporating data analysis using sonification, we conclude that functionally diverse people require tools to be autonomous, thereby enabling precision, certainty, effectiveness and efficiency in their work, resulting in enhanced equity. This can be achieved by pursuing a user-centred design approach as integral to software development, and by adapting resources according to the research objectives. Development of tools that empower people with wide-ranging abilities to not only access data using multi-sensorial techniques, but also address the current lack of inclusion, is sorely needed.
VL  - 9
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download