information aesthetics: background music sonification
the sonification lets operators mind the activities of systems through precisely mapped sounds which play pleasantly in the background. to achieve this the sounds are expressed as a musical paradigm. most people will assume that iSIC sounds like background music, however, a trained operator will know differently. the operators will be immediately alerted to changes in the system by changes in the music, even if they are not paying attention.
information aesthetics about background music sonification, a way to convey information using music. I’d find it interesting to try that out once — given the fact that I’m still thinking that more sensory channels should be used anyway. In this setting, I assume that it will sound a bit Eno-esque1.
In fact, some of this is already in use, mostly in games. Take Neverwinter Nights: it happens more often than not that I spot an enemy after battle music has begun playing, i.e. the change in music alerts me and makes me looking for the enemy.
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Hardly a bad thing — I like Brian Eno’s ambient music, and I wait for the day that the Music for Airports is actually being played in an airport — but not just as it was recorded, but rendered live, using inputs as diverse as the flow of passengers, the overall weight of the luggage, the taking off of planes and so forth to manipulate the sounds. In a way, this could be an information system as well, i.e. alerting the staff in the check-in hall that a large amount of people are entering the airport and probably arrive in the check-in hall within minutes, so they could get prepared … ↩