Project by Billy Jansheden and Linus Tegelmo
Abstract In this paper we explore how an interactive sonification can convey the importance of continuing social distancing in a pandemic ridden world. The sonification was designed to be able to represent data connected to the number of infected, number of deceased and the percentage of people partaking in shopping and entertainment in an alternative way to visualization. The intention of this study was to develop and later test an interactive sonification and explore its potential for conveying information. A user test with five participants was conducted in order to gain insight in the communicative ability of the sonification. The test consisted of two parts where the first surveyed the participant’s experience of Covid-19 and their familiarity with sonifications, and the second part evaluated their experience with the interactive sonification. The results of the tests showed that the sonification had a significant ability to present the data in the intended way. The participants understood the message the sonification relayed and considered it to be impactful. The findings indicate that interactive sonifications can be of use when assigning emotional value to data.