Data Into Sound

Dta can be turned into sound; sound is simply another way of viewing data, not unlike looking at a graph or examining a table representing the data. In some cases large amounts of data may be represented better by sound than by any other means. Sound also allows the use of an additional sense to examine data.

Click on each of the three graphs below to "hear" the data. Are you able to identify which data set is chosen when someone else "plays" the data while you close your eyes? Most individuals find it quite easy to choose the correct data set.

These graphs of datapoints and their associated sounds are from Professors S. Sahyun and J. Gardener of the Lewis and Clark College and Oregon State University Departments of Physics respectively.