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arXiv · 2305.05635

Research on access, use and effective exploration of astronomical observational and bibliographical data from sonification

Johanna Casado·Beatriz García
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Abstract

Data analysis in space sciences has been performed exclusively visually for years, despite the fact that the largest amount of data belongs to non-visible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This, on the one hand, limits the study of the unknown to the current resolution possibilities of the screens, and on the other hand, it excludes a group of people who present some type of visual disability. Taking into account the aforementioned, and that people with some type of disability encounter many barriers to achieve academic studies and stable jobs, the present investigation focuses on new modalities of access to the data, but taking into account the accessibility and inclusion of people with functional diversity from the beginning. It has been shown that multimodal perception (use of more than one sense) can be a good complement to visual exploration and understanding of complex scientific data. This is especially true for astrophysical data, composed of a sum of different oscillatory modes resulting in the final complex data array. This proposal focuses on the human ability to adapt to data and interaction with sound, in order to analyze data sets and produce an application aimed at leveling the possibilities of access to information in the field of physics and astronomy (although the tool is also applicable to any type of data in files with 2 or more columns (.txt or .csv)) for people with disabilities. In addition, it proposes the study of scientific and technological capacities for the generation of tools with a novel approach, focused on the user and oriented to: a specific social problem, the use of free programming languages and the design of infrastructure to improve inclusion.

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Johanna Casado, Beatriz García. 2023-05-09. Research on access, use and effective exploration of astronomical observational and bibliographical data from sonification. https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.05635

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