Kellogg Colloquium: What Does Data Sound Like?

The first of two Kellogg Colloquia for Hilary Term 2016, in this talk, we will hear from Iain Emsley, a researcher in the Oxford e-Research Centre and Kellogg student, about the concept of sonification and how it is being applied in humanities research.

Visualization is a common technique to display data. ‘Sonification’ – the non-verbal audio representation of data – may either complement data visualization, or be an effective alternative. In this talk, Iain Emsley will introduce the concept of sonification and present some examples: from Shakespeare to Big Macs. He will discuss some of the issues faced with representing data in sound, and describe some of the experiments carried out so far.

Iain Emsley is a Research Associate at the Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC), working with both the Software Sustainability Institute, and the Square Kilometre Array project. He graduated with a BA in English Literature and Language in 1997 before a career in bookselling and publishing turned into a career in software engineering. Alongside his work in OeRC, Iain is a Kellogg part-time student reading for a Masters in Software Engineering.

All members of Kellogg College and their guests are welcome to attend. The talks will begin at 17:30 in the Stopforth-Metcalfe Room (upstairs in no. 60 Banbury Rd.). Time for questions will follow the talk, and members of college are welcome to continue the discussions with the speaker at informal dinner from 18.15.