Introducing STRAUSS: A flexible sonification Python package

TL;DR

STRAUSS is an open-source Python package designed for flexible data sonification, supporting scientific analysis, outreach, and artistic applications through modular sound synthesis and diverse data representations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, modular Python sonification toolkit that caters to scientific, outreach, and artistic needs, with examples including univariate, multivariate, and spatial audio sonifications.

Findings

Multiple univariate data sonifications demonstrated for exploration.

Multivariate data mapped onto sound to interpret variable relationships.

Spatial audio example for immersive VR experiences.

Abstract

We introduce STRAUSS (Sonification Tools and Resources for Analysis Using Sound Synthesis) a modular, self-contained and flexible Python sonification package, operating in a free and open source (FOSS) capacity. STRAUSS is intended to be a flexible tool suitable for both scientific data exploration and analysis as well as for producing sonifications that are suitable for public outreach and artistic contexts. We explain the motivations behind STRAUSS, and how these lead to our design choices. We also describe the basic code structure and concepts. We then present output sonification examples, specifically: (1) multiple representations of univariate data (i.e., single data series) for data exploration; (2) how multi-variate data can be mapped onto sound to help interpret how those data variables are related and; (3) a full spatial audio example for immersive Virtual Reality. We summarise, alluding to some of the future functionality as STRAUSS development accelerates.