Dr. Wanda Diaz, leader of the OAD AstroSense Programme, is conducting an exciting experiment testing a tool that uses sound as an adjunct for visual processing, facilitating the identification of signal in noisy data.

The tool is designed to enhance your ability to spot low-level features in data and to facilitate data analysis by scientists with impaired vision.

Please take a moment to support this important work by volunteering to participate in the experiment.

Sounds great! How do I volunteer?
To take part, please sign up for a time slot here.

Who can volunteer?
We are looking for volunteers who:

  • are astronomers (MSc, PhD or further)
  • have normal or correction vision
  • are between 25 and 45 years old
  • have experience with data visualisation and interpretation (e.g. graphs)

What does volunteering involve?
The experiment takes approximately 45 minutes. All you need to do is to look at at some graphs on a screen while listening so some sounds, and press a button on a keyboard when you think you see or hear a pattern. It is like a video game and people generally find it a lot of fun! If you enjoy it and are willing to do a second session, Wanda may ask you to repeat the games at another time in order to collect data on reliability.

Background to project
The Sound to See Better experiment is part of the OAD AstroSense programme of projects on increasing Astronomy and science accessibility for individuals with different abilities and learning styles.

The sonification tool and experiment are also part of Wanda’s Smithsonian postdoctoral research at the Harvard, carried out in collaboration with Dr. Brickhouse (CFA), Dr. Matthew Schneps (Harvard and UMass Boston).

Any questions?
If you have any questions, please come by the OAD booth or contact Wanda directly at wdiaz-merced@cfa.harvard.edu