Sonification first: The role of ICAD in the advancement of sonification-related research

Abstract

Sonification as a means for exploring and analysing data is an established research domain in the field of Auditory Displays. Since 1992, the International Community for Auditory Displays (ICAD) fosters the development of this field through the organization of annual conferences, special journal issues, scientific publications, and research advancements. Sonification has been a focal point in these activities. This paper reflects on nearly 3 decades of sonification research, analysing the proceedings of the past 24 ICAD conferences in a semi-automated manner. The balance between artistic and scientific data exploration as well as changes in the focus of sonification-related work published are monitored and discussed. Word frequency analysis on the abstracts and titles of selected papers shines further light into the evolution of sonification as reflected in the ICAD conference proceedings.