3: Sonification and augmented cognition- A brief overview

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Nicholaus P. Brosowsky, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

In the most general sense, sonification refers to the transformation of non-sonic data into audible (non-speech) sound to represent or convey information to a listener. Thus, sonification is a rather general, all-encompassing umbrella term that might include everything from fire alarms, stethoscopes and Geiger counters, to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and John Cage’s 4’33”. Though there has been recent attempts to more firmly define sonification as a discipline (e.g., Hermann, Hunt, & Neuhoff, 2011; Nees & Walker, 2009), for better or worse, sonification straddles the boundaries of science, art, design, and application. To better situate this review, I will focus on the ways in which sonification could be used as a tool to enhance or augment cognition. Specifically, I focus on three areas: situational awareness, perception and action in motor skills, and data analysis. But before doing so, I will provide a brief outline of the types of sonification previous work has identified and the general rationale for adopting sonification methods at all.