Recommendations to Develop, Distribute and Market Sonification Apps

TL;DR

This paper discusses strategies for developing, distributing, and marketing sonification apps, exemplified by Tiltification, to increase public awareness and adoption of sonification in consumer technology.

Contribution

It presents a case study of Tiltification and offers practical recommendations for promoting sonification apps to broader audiences.

Findings

Tiltification increased public awareness of sonification.

Distribution and promotion strategies improved app adoption.

Recommendations for future sonification app development and marketing.

Abstract

After decades of research, sonification is still rarely adopted in consumer electronics, software and user interfaces. Outside the science and arts scenes the term sonification seems not well known to the public. As a means of science communication, and in order to make software developers, producers of consumer electronics and end users aware of sonification, we developed, distributed, and promoted Tiltification. This smartphone app utilizes sonification to inform users about the tilt angle of their phone, so that they can use it as a torpedo level. In this paper we report on our app development, distribution and promotion strategies and reflect on their success in making the app in particular, and sonification in general, better known to the public. Finally, we give recommendations on how to develop, distribute and market sonification apps. This article is dedicated to research institutions without commercial interests.