WG4 Minutes Glasgow 02/08/2007

WG4 "Sonification" COST-IC0601: Sonic Interaction Design (SID) Minutes of the Meeting of WG4 "Sonification" on 2007-08-02 (9:15h - 19:30h) at Glasgow University, Computing Science Department, Glasgow, U.K.

Attendance List

• Eoin Brazil
• Thomas Hermann (WG chair)
• Roderick Murray-Smith
• Yon Visell
• John Williamson

1. Welcome

• Reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting (Brussels 2007-04-23)
  • The minutes have been approved unanimously.
• Adoption of the Agenda
• Introduction of COST to John

2. WG Member Introduction

WG members presented their research with a focus on SID in series. Each presentation took about 30mins and was accompanied by lively discussions.

• Thomas:
  • Sonification Research (Theory, Application, New Interfaces).
  • Model-based Sonification,
  • Application Overview, covering AcouMotion? (Blindminton), Psychotherapy Sonification, EEG Sonification, Weather Forecast Sonification, etc.
  • Model-based sonification as Sonification technique with built-in interaction concepts.
  • Showing novel Interfaces: Audio-haptic Ball Interface, Meallable Interface, tDesk Tangible Desk System, Tangible Data Scanning, and online EEG-Sonification.
• Yon:
  • Interactive artefacts/architecture, embodied interactive sonification
  • Participatory Pedagogy (possibilities for WG4 interaction):
  • Workshop, Oboro Centre, Montreal February 2008
  • ISon Course at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arte, Milano, May 2008
  • Design of control models for sonification
  • X-pour: pouring assistance (to pour same amount into different bowls)
  • Enlighten: interactive ambient displays
  • Interaction in Walking project (Tiles) (active, with haptic actuator, vibrate, loudspeaker)
  • New collaborations:
    • Gait and balance rehab (Montreal Jewish Rehab. Hospital)
    • Gesture based gaming (EA Montreal)
• Eoin:
  • sonic browsing, audio-haptic software buttons (interactive sonification)
  • Examples of sonification areas in Public Spaces (Airports & Museums), WIMU motes for artistic performance but also for rehabilitation
  • Design based medical training (spinial anesthesia)
  • Physical models for rehabilitation
• Rod (incl. an overview of John's research):
  • Negotiated interactions
  • Interaction as 'dancing' rather than explicit control
  • Dealing with uncertainty
  • Display Quickening
  • Particle filters
  • Gait alignment paper together with Simon Garrod
  • Observations from the presentations:
  • Shared interest in Medical Applications of Sonification
  • Shared interest in mobile context driven implementations (more or less...)
  • Physical models, excitory interaction, continuous interaction

3. Summary of Action Items

• All: collect some sonification projects relevant for SID - put them on Wiki before October 1st
• All: Look and comment at Sonification definition by Thomas at sonification.de
• All: Collect and comment on good / bad designs in Wiki
• All: Populate some material on each member in Wiki
• All: Create rough axes as to where SID WG4 fits into to a space related to other FP6/FP7 projects, kinda of open for personal ideas - e.g. one axes may be fixed to mobile but should be considered as an informational space
• All: Collect short videos snippets, showing an interaction with the audible results (plus evtl. voice commentary, this could grow over time, would provide course material, could be a good student task)
• Thomas: clarify what needs to be done to have experts to come to meetings
• Thomas: add John to WG for live time of SID
• Thomas: firmly ask Davide to add Matthias Rath as WG4 member.
• Thomas: reply to Christopher Frauenberger to maximize QMC integration into SID.
• Thomas: forward email template to WG4 (all WG) members to collect SID network partners on the national level - after it has been reviewed by Davide
• Eoin: talk to Nicola about MediaWiki? on server
• Eoin: create WG4 site, initial site structure
• Eoin: sort with Nicola a mailing list for WG4
• Thomas: Prepare WG4 report for MCM on October 22nd 2007 in Paris

Collecting Beneficial Activity for the Success of COST-SID / WG 4

• Ansorge mentioned connection to rehabilitation, Rod talked about the use of a slushing model and their links to the biomedical group in Glasgow. Eoin talked about the use of violin models and other physical sound models for use in rehabilitation such as stroke rehab. Rod mentioned the SHAKE sensors. Eoin talked a little about WIMU motes.
• Web Presence
• Standards: could be a result of research retreats to be conducted over the 4 years
• Toolkits: Thomas noted PythonSC, his Python/SuperCollider? linkage, Rod noted that the Python / SuperCollider? toolkit linkage could be lightweight, practical, and open source, and easily could become the de-facto standard.
• European Networking
• Industrial Linkage

Research retreats

• as a way to collect alternative funding (inviting Nokia, Telekom, IMSArcs (Eoin) or involving the Closed network (Yon))
• We could (video) record courses and collect material for online course material
• focus ambition to some few overview presentations and high interactive part

Exhibition:

• the idea came up to create a "Innovation" Exhibition, possibly at Heinz-Nixdorf Computer Museum (HNF), ZKM Karlsruhe or Centre Pompidou in Paris, with interactive artefacts that allow public exploration of sonifications, sonic interactions, etc. (Thomas)
• this is possibly more a general issue for SID than for a single WG
• the open question of a set of suitable sonic demos for the masses
• everyone will have a 99%-ready demo - we might simply put them all together...
• such an exhibition event can also be used for intensive rapid prototyping: offering different interactions on different days, collecting massive amounts of use data from the visitors.
• suggest this as potential year 3 event or as the final event in conjunction with other WGs in SID

• ISon 2007 could eventually be counted as SID WG4 dissemination (by integrating a SID commentary)
• Eoin: comments from authors in relation to SID...
• Rod asked about the ISon proceedings and if it was possible to use these as a SID deliverable through the use of the COST publishers? Thomas will discuss this with Andy Hunt.
• Eoin wondered if by adding an intro to the ISon papers and by getting authors to re-write existing papers with longer introductions and conclusions review that these could form the chapters in this SID deliverable.

4. Report of WG Activities so far

• Web:
  • Eoin showed a preliminary web design for SID in general which is to be adapted for WG4.
  • Thomas explained the e-mail activities among WG4 members to exchange and rate suggested candidates to be invited as additional experts in WG4.
  • Thomas drafted an e-mail to be sent to potential partners of SID, and an e-mail to be sent to SID delegates to help them organizing networking activities. The mail contains a text form to faciliate entering of items into websites to be created.

5. Discussion

5.1. Collected Ideas/Points? for Discussion

List of Sonification Project that are relevant to SID

• what it is? what do we want to do? Mission Statement / Objectives
• finally: to provide guidelines for a better design of sonic interactions
• giving good/back examples (Description, Weblink, Contact, Relevance)
• to warn about gross design flaws
• bad available commercial sonic interactions
• sonification is *not* about fancy but uninformative audioFX.
• TODO: all of us collecting some items (in wiki, 1 month maturing time)

Tony Stockman / Christopher Frauenberger

• get them involved into the above collection
• ask them to contribute their design pattern ideas (on criteria that are important when designing SI)?
• probably able to offer permanent WG4 membership? open to budget considerations

5.2. Key Questions:

• How can/does sonification help to perform task / during interactions?
  • (Thomas) set up database of interactions (categorizing task, interaction, sound)
• How can we evaluate the use/acceptance of sonifications in general and on interactive sonifications in particular?
• (Rod) Supporting Interaction: sonification as auditory feedback channel to explore control spaces (from scientific to everyday interactions)
• (Yon) Why is/should sound at all being used in that application (roles of sound)? Creating new levels of functionality! Improving usability!
• (Eoin) Deliver good tutorials for novices to get started with SID and make them familiar with good metaphors - introductory guidance, commentary and advice on
  • key reading list
  • key papers
  • key links
  • key tools
• How do people perceive sound and make use of it?
• How to convince people that sonification is worthwhile considering?
• Ways how people could work for them
• (John) Principles to derive successful sonic interactions
• How could we support large companies (goggle maps, etc.) to integrate and use sonifications to support user interactions.
• After downloadable ringtones: an industry of downloadable auditory interaction support programs
• Provide a better description of Sonification to help clarify what we do in WG4 - 2/3 pages to position us to other WGs and novice readers
• the roles for sound use, why sound used there? Informational examples of revealing new design spaces e.g. sonic fishing or other location-aware sonifications such as instrumented buildings with sonifications

• TODO: (all) review this list, feed it into a SID/Sonification synopsis...

5.3. Themes:

• active vs. passive sonifications
• sonification need to be convincing which is best achieved by a positive personal experience
• frequent terms are: functional sound, product design, aesthetics

5.4. WG4-web representation:

• where? on cost-sid.org
• we suggest to add a MediaWiki? for WG4
• use private sites on trac
• Actions:
  • Eoin to talk to Nicola re Mediawiki
  • Eoin to create the initial site structure
  • Thomas to draft Aims
  • all of us to add some projects/examples:
    • title, short description, relevance for SID, link/contact
• into wiki: minutes of meeting
• private wiki space for book chapter discussions/versions etc.

* Content:

• WG4 Overview/Summary?, Aims, Projects, People, ... (Eoin)
• WG4 Publication/Related? Publications List
• Link to Global SID News
• We think about a "Bad Examples" page to demonstrate the opportunities for better design from the SID perspectives
• SID-WG4-Sonification:Getting Started
  • key reading list
  • key papers
  • key links
  • key tools
• Project Publications, like White Paper "The potential of sonification for functionally augmented interactions".

5.5. WG4 Online Database: (Thomas)

• Informative Sound in the World [and in Products]
• Collect and categorize examples of interaction sounds / sonic interactions and discuss their information/effect to
  • structure the interaction
  • inform the interactand about the state
  • synchronize actions of several interactands [e.g. warnings]
  • etc.
• Idea: collect short video sniplets showing an interaction with the audible result (plus evtl. voice commentary)... to grow with time, and as ideal material for courses, or as a studend task in courses.
• Different functions of sound
  • e.g. continuous analogous display of information
  • discrete values
  • signalling events
  • emotional manipulation

5.6. European network of sonification/SID researchers in Europe

• scheduled for 3/2008, when there is content on the web and MC members are fully integrated.

6 STSM call: elements

• We agreed that there should be a single call for SID rather than calls for the different WGs. We suggest that each WG offers a paragraph to attract people. We can propagate the calls directly to people we feel resonant with for WG4 STSMs.
• Initial balanced allocation to WGs with ability to release.
• wait for final budget until we know how many STSMs are likely...

7. Possible Workshop Sessions:

• SID@ICAD 07/2008
• go for 21.6 or 30th June as possible dates for SID session
• SID@ISon 03/2009
• Courses: Biomedical Sonification in Bielefeld (02/2008)

8. Additional Members

• add to WG [on demand] to balance out proportion in WGs
• TODO (Thomas) clarify what needs to be done to have experts to come to meetings, add John to WG for live time of SID
• TODO: ask Davide to add Matthias Rath as WG4 member...

9. CHI SID-workshop paper:

• 3 possible approaches: (4 p)
  • What is sonification? Definition and challenges
  • Sonic Interaction Design for Sonification - Benefits and Problems
  • User as Scientist...
• TODO: decide what to do via e-mail

10. Communication:

• We decided to use the trac system of COST SID to organize internal information, such as files to be reviewed.
• We will put open files onto a Wiki that is administered by us alone
• To accelerate communication, we favour a WG4 mailing list, so that internal communication can be done.
• TODO: Eoin, to ask Nicola to create WG4 mailing list
• We exchange skype addresses to maximize communication efficiency

11. Next Meeting

• The next WG meeting is scheduled for October 22nd 2007 in Paris, in conjunction with the Management Committee Meeting. We discussed opportunities to meet the day before, probably (unfortunately) without Eoin, to have more time altogether. We favour working group meetings most of the day, followed by the presentation and overarching discussion.