PAMPAS: A PsychoAcoustical Method for the Perceptual Analysis of multidimensional Sonification

Area of Science:

• Data Sonification
• Psychoacoustics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Data sonification, emerging in the 1990s, lacks standardized design and evaluation methods.
• Psychoacoustics is recognized as crucial for sonification, but requires adapted methods and experimental procedures.
• Existing approaches often involve designing sonifications from scratch without universal benchmarks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel PsychoAcoustical Method for the Perceptual Analysis of multidimensional Sonification (PAMPAS).
• To provide researchers with a standardized tool for evaluating sonification designs.
• To enable quantitative comparison of different sonification approaches.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes a just noticeable difference (JND) experiment based on the maximum likelihood procedure (MLP).
• Adapts psychoacoustic methods for sonification signal types and experimental preparation.
• Employs standardized data spaces and procedures for reliable, replicable results.

Main Results:

• Achieves perceptual linearity in parameter mapping during sonification design.
• Identifies and quantifies perceptual effects like resolution, hysteresis, and interference.
• Generates standardized scores for comparing sonification designs across researchers.

Conclusions:

• PAMPAS offers a robust, perceptual evaluation framework for sonification.
• The method facilitates objective comparison and improvement of sonification techniques.
• It serves as a valuable supplement to existing sonification design and evaluation tools.