Sonification

Inspiration

A NASA sonification of the Butterfly Image done by Matt Russo and the System Sounds Team really inspired us to replicate their work using python and with the Pillars of Creation image.

Furthermore, it was a starting point of inspiration for making beautiful images of the universe be equally enjoyed in both sight and auditory form. This, in particular, helps people with visual impairments experience the beauty of the universe in other senses.

What it does

Our program converts an image of the Pillars of Creation image from NASA and converts it into an audio file (.mid file). This helps visually impaired individuals experience the universe in auditory form. This also adds some sort of background music to the viewing experience.

How we built it

We divide the entire image into grids and make a matrix out of the RGB biases in each of these squares. We then attribute each value in the matrix to a note on a piano using the souddevice and midifile libraries. The end product is an attempt at harmonising the data received.

Challenges we ran into

Making the music sound good. As it is easy to guess, the universe is random and chaotic and to create harmonising music out of the chaos is difficult. We tried arpeggios, chords, triads but none were replicating a pleasant sound. Finally, using arpeggios of the individual notes' major triads we created a somewhat better hearing experience.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Completing the sonfication of an image.
Learning to ask for help:
- We asked Matt Russo from NASA for help and he was quite happy to help us. It was a nice experience knowing that NASA engineers reply if you just email them ;)