dataSonification Open Source Project for Real-Time Data Sonification

Abstract

A software platform for real-time data sonification is described in detail. The platform is designed primarily to process multiple real-time data streams simultaneously. The system was originally designed for processing financial data with the general goal to be able to monitor up to 20 different securities (stocks, bonds, financial indices) as their values were changing during a trading session. The sonifications were designed to make it easy to distinguish between different securities, and to convey as much information about each security’s activity using the shortest possible sound duration. The software platform was designed using multiple threads with a gatekeeper function to manage simultaneous sonifications events without confusion or system failure. This paper announces the release of this software together with its financial data stream implementation to the open source community. It is hoped that sonification researchers particularly interested in real-time data will use and adapt the software to their needs.