Hansen M D, Charp E, Lodha S, Meads D, Pang A
Computer Science Department, University of California, Santa Cruz 95064, USA. mhansen,echarp,lodha,doanna,
Pac Symp Biocomput. 1999:368-79. doi: 10.1142/9789814447300_0036.
We present and evaluate PROMUSE: an integrated visualization/sonification system for analyzing pairwise protein structural alignments (superpositions of two protein structures in three-dimensional space). We also explore how the use of sound can enhance the perception and recognition of specific aspects of the local environment at given positions in the represented molecular structure. Sonification presents several opportunities to researchers. For those with visual impairment, data sonification can be a useful alternative to visualization. Sonification can further serve to improve understanding of information in several ways. One use for data sonification is in tasks such as background monitoring, in which case sounds can be used to indicate thresholding events. With PROMUSE, data represented visually may be enhanced or disambiguated by adding sound to the presentation. This aspect of data representation is particularly important for showing features that are difficult to represent visually, due to occlusion or other factors. Another feature of our system is that by representing some variables through sound and others visually, the amount of information that may be represented simultaneously is extended. Our tool aims to augment the power of data visualization rather than replace it. To maximize the utility of our sonifications to represent data, we employed musical voices and melodic components with unique characteristics. We also used sound effects such as panning a voice to the left or right speaker and changing its volume to maximize the individuality of the sonification elements. By making the sonification parameters distinct, we allow the user to focus on those portions of the sonification necessary to resolve possible ambiguities in the visual display. Sonifications of low level data such as raw protein or DNA sequences tend to sound random, and not very musical. We chose instead to sonify an analysis of data features, and thereby present a higher level view of the data. We also used brief melodic phrases rather than single notes in order to generate sounds that were more pleasing and musically idiomatic. To validate the utility of our system, we present the results of an experiment in which PROMUSE was used to test the use of sound as an aid for clarifying visual information. We also compare the overall effectiveness of visual versus aural information delivery.
我们展示并评估了PROMUSE：一个用于分析成对蛋白质结构比对（三维空间中两个蛋白质结构的叠加）的集成可视化/可听化系统。我们还探讨了声音的使用如何增强对所呈现分子结构中给定位置处局部环境特定方面的感知和识别。可听化给研究人员带来了几个机会。对于视力受损者而言，数据可听化是可视化的一种有用替代方式。可听化还可以通过多种方式进一步帮助提高对信息的理解。数据可听化的一种用途是在诸如背景监测等任务中，在这种情况下，声音可用于指示阈值事件。借助PROMUSE，通过在呈现中添加声音，可以增强或消除以视觉方式呈现的数据的歧义。由于遮挡或其他因素，数据表示的这一方面对于显示难以直观呈现的特征尤为重要。我们系统的另一个特点是，通过用声音表示一些变量而用视觉表示其他变量，可以扩展同时表示的信息量。我们的工具旨在增强数据可视化的能力，而非取代它。为了最大限度地利用我们的可听化来表示数据，我们采用了具有独特特征的音乐声部和旋律元素。我们还使用了诸如将一个声部平移到左扬声器或右扬声器并改变其音量等音效，以最大限度地提高可听化元素的独特性。通过使可听化参数不同，我们允许用户专注于可听化中那些对于解决视觉显示中可能的歧义所必需的部分。诸如原始蛋白质或DNA序列等低层次数据的可听化往往听起来很随机，而且不太像音乐。相反，我们选择对数据特征分析进行可听化，从而呈现数据的更高层次视图。我们还使用简短的旋律短语而非单个音符，以便生成更悦耳且符合音乐习惯的声音。为了验证我们系统的实用性，我们展示了一项实验的结果，在该实验中使用PROMUSE来测试声音作为辅助澄清视觉信息的用途。我们还比较了视觉与听觉信息传递的总体有效性。
